The Soldier Biotic and The Combat Engineer
by USMilitary1941
Summary: Tali x MShep, story, I'll go through the games on how I think they should of gone, which means custom dialogue, custom side missions, heck even custom characters if i'm feeling up to it. Besides never enough Tali stories out there haha. Anyway enjoy and hope you guys like it :D So I decided to cross this over w/ SW, let me know if you think I should continue it like this or not :D
1. Chapter 1

_**This will be an alternating story with alternating dialogue and events and how I wish this game would've turned. Each will have some perspectives on Tali, others will be on Shepard. I don't know if I should continue this or not so if you want me to then just say the word and I will. Other than that enjoy :D**_

* * *

Lieutenant Commander John Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy, already well known around the galaxy, now that being name being drawn on the lines of heroism and cruelty is very blurred to some people. Being born on the planet Mindoir, John learned that life can come at you from different angles and no matter how much you think you can prepare for it, you are always caught with your pants down. Shepard was around the age of 16 when Batarian slavers murdered and pillaged the colony, seeing everyone around you, your parents, your friends, being slaughtered left and right can change you and can possibly damage your mind. John Shepard was as strong as they come, he had survived the raid and was rescued by a passing Alliance patrol who were taken back by what they had seen. This eventually led to humanity pushing for aggressive colonization within the Skyillian Verge and making more than a few Batarians unhappy and asked the council for help with the council denying their plea and eventually took matters into their own hands. John Shepard had enlisted in the Alliance as soon as he was old enough since he thought he could prevent incidents like the raid on Mindoir from happening again.

Shepard had ascended through the ranks of the military in his early career. When suddenly Batarian slavers had begun an offensive on the Alliance world of Elysium. Shepard had rallied others to help defend Elysium from the Batarian onslaught, Shepard had done the impossible, and he had taken the others around him and rallied them into an army that was heavily outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered.

During what is now known as The Skyllian Blitz, Shepard had sacrificed his life multiple times to protect others around him. He had held off the Batarians for hours before the Batarians realized that it was a mistake to attack Elysium and had fled the system. After the battle Lieutenant (at the time) John Shepard was awarded the Star of Terra for his brave actions against a formidable foe that had hard pressed their attack for hours but perseverance, sacrifice, and duty had eventually triumphed. John Shepard had been regarded as a savior for humanity for his actions that nearly cost him his life multiple times.

A few years after The Skyllian Blitz, the Alliance led a major operation against the Batarians to destroy their base of operations on Torfan. This would eventually become a ruthless and bloody battle with both sides take heavy casualties but in the end, Humanity had gotten its revenge for now against the Batarians, at least for now.

/\\\\

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was just like any other quarian on the flotilla for the time being. She was the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah but yet she did not feel or want any special treatment for that matter. Tali had always been excellent with technology, even at a young age she was a tech genius. She had made plenty of friends when she was young from Kal'Reegar who usually got into trouble from mischief to Ya'Del who kept to herself most of the time but became friends with Kal and Tali. The three of them spent most of their childhood together until it was time for them to go onto their pilgrimage.

The quarian rite of passage into adulthood, the parents send their children off onto a pilgrimage that they must find something of value to the Migrant Fleet. Now it's not as if the parents just send their kids off on alone without giving them anything. Before one leaves, they are given information about the universe around them whether it be what food to eat or how dangerous each species is, along with survival instincts. They are also given weapons and armor for protection against unwanted visitors.

Now with the pilgrimage, not every quarian who steps out of the flotilla to begin their rite of passage returns which can cause any number of things from dangers or because they found a new life outside the flotilla and decided it was perfect for them. Most eventually return to the flotilla with something of value ranging from new ship parts to important information that could improve the safety of those on the flotilla. After the gift is presented to the Captain, the captain decides whether or not to allow the young quarian aboard. Most of the time the Captain agrees to take another member of their crew as the more the Captain has onboard, the more he gets respected on the fleet.

Unfortunately, it has come the time for the young quarian girl to set off on her rite of passage to become an adult but not everything would go as planned for the young tech genius.

/\\\\

"What do you mean you aren't going to do anything?!" Shepard screamed with the veins in his neck almost popping out at the council during Saren's trial "There is an eye-witness who saw that Turian fuck…" Shepard continued, pointing at Saren "…murder Nihlus in cold blood!"

"From a traumatized dock worker." Saren said smirking laughing it off "That's not a witness."

"There isn't any substantial evidence in your favor, Commander. I'm afraid that without conclusive evidence, the charges against Saren will be dropped." The Asari Councilor stated "Do you have any other statements to provide?"

"What's the point? There's no point in wasting my fucking breath." Shepard cursed

"Then we find Saren not guilty and the charges are officially dropped." The Salarian Councilor

"I'm glad to see justice was served." Saren stated

"I swear to God that I will stop at nothing to hunt you down and kill you." Shepard said staring down Saren through the hologram. One would have thought that it would be like a Wild West movie with a stare down then quick draw between the duelists.

"Don't make promises you can't keep panzie." Saren said adding insult to injury

"Why I oughta…" Shepard said taking steps forward before being pulled back by Kaiden

"It's not worth it Shepard." Kaiden said pulling Shepard away and bringing him away from the scene that was bound to turn into a bloodbath. Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina met Shepard along with Kaiden and Ashley when the meeting was adjourned.

"We need to find some leads if were gonna put that turian prick where he belongs, any ideas?" Shepard said finally cooling his head

"How about that one C-Sec officer gathering information on Saren, Garrus?" Ashley pointed out

"Any ideas where to find him?" Shepard asked looking at Udina and Anderson

"You could always go by Chora's Den in the wards to speak to a C-Sec officer named Harkun. He might be a little hard to work with but you should go pay him a visit." Udina said leaving bringing along Anderson only leaving Shepard, Kaiden, and Ashley to go find Harkun.

"Well, no time like the present. Let's go." Shepard said as him and his team walked over to a taxi service to go to Chora's Den.

/\\\\

"But I have important information that needs to get to the council!" Tali said pleading with C-Sec official

"Yeah? You and about a hundred thousand other people." The officer said "Now I'm not going to tell you again. I want you off this station by tomorrow or you'll be coming with us and any 'important information' you have will be tossed away never to be seen again." The officer had left leaving Tali alone by herself on the docks, with her pursuer close behind.

"Bosh'tet." Tali muttered cursing in her native tongue, Tali walked around for a few hours about to give up when she thought of an idea, she could ask how long it would take to get an audience with the council unfortunately it would not be another few months and she certainly did not have that luxury and continued to wander the wards aimlessly until she heard the sound of running footsteps behind her.

Tali quickly looked around to see her pursuer still chasing after her. "You've got to be kidding me, when is this guy going to get the fuck away." Tali muttered when she started slowing down to feel pain in her side, she looked down to see that her suit had been punctured and she had been shot, she felt the pain and immediately activated her suit decontamination system which had sealed the puncture and now she was swimming in antibiotics. She was still running through the wards to get away from her assailant. She had eventually led him through a furnace that he was stupid enough to follow her through, once she had made it through she activated it burning that creep to death. Tali left and found a medical clinic owned by a Doctor Chloe Michel and asked for her help.

"Jeez what had happened to you?" Dr. Michel asked

"Well, I was on the run from some this idiot who was trying to get information I have." Tali stated

"Do you mind if I ask what the information is?" Dr. Michel asked all the meanwhile examining Tali's wounds

"Its part of a geth memory core and something about a turian spectre named Saren." Tali said still griping in the pain that she was in.

"I see, I'm afraid that the best I can do right now is wrap you wound up and hope that it heals since cutting into your suit would just be the equivalent of murder." The doctor said

"Thank you doctor." Tali said "Is there anyone you know that could use the information, I need a place to stay and I'm willing to make a trade."

Doctor Michel thought for a second "I can set you up with a guy named Fist who knows the Shadow Broker, why don't you go talk to him in Chora's Den."

"Alright thanks again." Tali said and left the clinic to meet up with this named Fist in Chora's Den

/\\\\

Shepard and his team arrived outside Chora's Den only to meet blaster fire along the entrance to the club, no problem for a couple trained soldiers like Shepard and his team

"Looks like Saren's men wanted to kill us before we dug to deep." Kaiden stated

"Doesn't matter he's gonna die like everyone else who follows him." Shepard said "Now let's go find this Harkun." They walked into the entrance and were greeted with an interesting view

"This place has quite the uhh view." Kaiden said staring at the half-naked women dancing around everywhere

"I know what you mean by that Alenko." Shepard said agreeing with the LT

"Uhh hey Lieutenant and Commander, wanna pick up your tongues before you two step on them?" Ashely stated

"Calm down, Chief. Alenko and I are just enjoying the view." Shepard said looking over at Ash

"I can't believe that we are standing a million light years away from where humanity began to see half-naked women shake their ass and tits on a stage." Ashley said muttering to herself

"Calm down, we still got a mission to do so let's do it." Shepard said finding Harkun sitting in a corner drinking whatever it was he was drinking before he was interrupted by Shepard and his team "I hear you know where to find Garrus Vakarian now start talking."

"Well aren't you a little impatient? Who are you anyway?" Harkun said slurring his speech

"My name is not important, but I need to find Garrus and I won't ask again." Shepard said with his hand reaching for his pistol

"Alright no need for violence, I heard him mentioning that he was going to talk to a doctor down in the wards about his dead lead."

"Well thank you Harkun, you can now go ahead and sulk in your own misery now." Shepard said leaving Chora's Den

"We need to find this doctor." Shepard said taking a taxi to one of the many medical clinics on the Citadel. Surprisingly it what was the one that they had needed since he saw Garrus creeping around the bend. Some thugs were threatening the doctor about Garrus when one of them saw Shepard through the doorway.

"Who are you?!" The leader said grabbing the doctor by the neck and taking her hostage and just then his head exploded from Garrus' shot. The others tried to fend themselves off but ultimately failed.

"Damn, nice shot Garrus." Ashely said looking at the thug that was missing his head

"Thanks, you gave enough time to get into position to take him down." Garrus stated "Doctor Michel are you hurt?"

"No thank you though all of you." The doctor said with a thick heavy French accent

"Who were those punks?" Kaiden asked

"They were Fists thugs, they wanted to keep me quiet from telling Garrus about the quarian." Doctor Michel explained

"What quarian?" Shepard asked

"A few days ago, a quarian came in asking for medical attention from being shot. She mentioned that she had information on a spectre called Saren." Doctor Michel said "She asked for a place to stay in exchange for her information. I set her up with Fist who said he can set up with the Shadow Broker."

"Fist is an idiot, there is no way he is able to make a deal with the Shadow Broker. No one meets him in person." Garrus said

"Looks like we have to pay Fist a visit." Shepard said

"I'm coming with you Shepard, I wanna bring down Saren as much as you do."

"Welcome aboard Garrus."

"There is also a Krogan named Wrex who was hired to kill Fist, I think he might be to some use as well, I hear he is talking with C-Sec." Garrus added

"A krogan can pack a punch let's go pay him a visit." Shepard said "Are you going to be okay doctor?"

"I'll be fine, just go find Fist before it's too late." Doctor Michel said and with that the team of four headed down to Garrus' employer and found the Wrex arguing with C-Sec officers.

"Wrex, you got a minute?" Shepard asked the large krogan

"Out of my way, human I have no quarrel with you." Wrex said pushing him aside

"I hear you want Fist dead, I can make that happen." Shepard said and that seemed to peak Wrex's curiosity as he stopped and turned around

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Wrex said shaking hands with Shepard "Let's go kick some ass." They all left and headed toward Chora's den that seemed to be closed and it was too easy to suspect an ambush so all five of them burst in the doors guns blazing killing all the guards that still seemed to be shooting back. After a few minutes the five of them had made it to the back of Fist's club ready to find out where he had sent the quarian.

"Well, look what we've got here, how the tides have turned Fist." Wrex said walking up to Fist

"Where's the quarian?" Shepard demanded

"I don't know what you're talking about." Fist said trying to maneuver his way out of the situation

"Don't lie to me, you don't want to be my enemy if you lie." Shepard said as Fist retracted his previous statement as he saw multiple rifles pointed at his face.

"Alright fine, she wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker in person in exchange for a place to stay." Fist said

"That's impossible, no one meets the Shadow Broker in person, and even I was hired through an agent." Wrex interjected

"But it'll be Saren's thugs will be waiting there instead of him." Fist continued

Shepard losing his patience unholstered his pistol and slammed into Fist's face "Tell me the quarian is before I blow your lying head off."

"Alright alright she's near the back alley of the markets not too far from here, if you leave now you might be able to catch her." Fist said backing up only to find a wall behind him and realized he was most likely screwed.

"See was that so hard?" Shepard said backing up and holstering his pistol when suddenly Fist was violently thrown against the wall and had blood pouring down his body. Kaiden, Ashley, and Garrus immediately had Wrex aimed down the sights ready to fire

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Ashley said still keeping aimed at the large krogan

"The Shadow Broker hired me to kill him, I never leave jobs half done." Wrex said putting away his shotgun, Shepard had ordered the three of them to hold their fire

"Next time, you warn me when you do that." Shepard said "Now let's move, the quarian is still in danger." The five of them sprinted out of the club to find the quarian

/\\\\

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" Tali stated not knowing what was about to unfold.

"Don't worry they'll be here, do you have the information?" The informant said starting to feel up the young quarian. Tali slapped his hand off of her.

"Depends where are the Shadow Broker and Fist. I'm not giving you shit until they get here, bosh'tet." Tali stated standing her ground

"Why don't you give me the information and if they don't get here I'll give to them from you." The assailant said

"Over my dead body." Tali said looking around seeing two Salarians in the corner conversing and she could tell that they were with the turian.

"I'm afraid I didn't want to do this but you leave me no other choice in the matter. Let's kill this bitch and take the information for Saren." The turian said calling over the Salarians and Tali sprang into action throwing a stun grenade at the three assailants and hid behind some cover, she found a pistol that her father had given to her before her pilgrimage and loaded it with heat sink clips and jumped out of cover only to find all of them dead on the alleyway floor.

"What the-"Tali said thinking aloud looking around to see five well-armed figures in front of her

"Name's Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy." Shepard said looking at the young quarian

"My name is Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Thank you for saving my life." Tali said looking at the young dashing Commander that had just rescued a damsel in distress

"It was my pleasure Tali." Shepard said looking at the young quarian "Now I'd hate to cut this short but I hear you have information on my friend Saren."

"Ahh, yes of course. I guess this is what you can have for saving my life, Commanader." Tali said

"The council will want to hear this, I think this is what we need. We need to bring this to Udina and Anderson." Ashley stated and with that Shepard gained another a crew member and the six of them headed toward the human embassy to give Udina and Anderson the information they needed to bring the turian son of a bitch down.

/\\\\

"_Eden Prime was a major victory! This brings us one step closer to finding the Conduit."_ The recording of Saren had stated

"That's it, that's exactly the evidence we need to implicate Saren!" Udina said

"But the next question is what is the Conduit?" Anderson asked

"It's something Saren wants, which means it's something we need." Shepard interjected

"There's also another part of the recording." Tali stated

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_ The feminine voice from the recording said

"No we have two more questions to answer, who is that voice and what are the Reapers?" Anderson said

Visions from Eden Prime's Prothean beacon began to ring out in Shepard's head, none of it made sense but it felt as if he had heard of the Reapers. "I feel like I've heard of them before." Shepard said

"We need to bring this before the Council!" Udina said "Anderson and I will meet you up there Shepard, come when you are ready." And with that now all six members of the crew were standing in the human embassy.

"What are we going to do with the quarian?" Wrex asked

"My name is Tali! You saw what I can do in the alleyway Commander, allow me to join you." Tali said asking permission

"Sure why not, more the merrier." Shepard said and heard of a groaning sound come from Ashley but that's just the way Ashley was. He just looked at her and she rolled her eyes and became silent

"Thank you, you won't regret this." Tali said taking the Commander's side as the six of them left the human embassy and made their way up the citadel tower, after a short trip they eventually made it up and saw Anderson by the stairs waiting for Shepard and his crew.

"Come on, Udina's already presenting the evidence to the council." Anderson said as he brought Shepard up to where Udina was standing on the platform.

The recording began playing again, this time with both Saren's and the mysterious woman's voice, when it was finished playing the turian councilor spoke up.

"This proof is irrefutable, Commander. Saren's spectre status will be revoked and he will no longer have the resources he once had."

"That other voice, her name is Matriarch Benezia." The Asari councilor interjected

"A Matriarch is one of the last stages an asari can go through I think. I also believe that are revered upon by other asari and are very powerful with biotics than the normal asari. Am I correct?" Shepard said with everything else looking around dumbfounded "What, I do my research." Shepard said with a smirk.

"You are correct, Commander." The asari councilor said "If she is allying herself with Saren, then she could ally others to her cause, which in the long run can be dangerous for us."

"You know he is the Terminus Systems, send your fleet in!" Udina demanded

"We will not send our fleets to capture one man and besides if we send our fleets in, we will trigger a war with the Terminus Systems." The Salarian councilor

"Then send me in." Shepard said with authority "The Normandy can maneuver through the Terminus Systems undetected

"Well there is an alternative." The Asari councilor stated and looked over at the Turian councilor

"No humanity is not yet ready to join the ranks of the Spectres!" The Turian councilor stated

"It was a HUMAN who brought down a Turian spectre. Stop holding us back! If you don't do this, it will be the biggest mistake any of you will ever make." Shepard shouted

The three Councilors looked at each other and nodded each pressing buttons on their omni-tools.

"Commander John Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy, please step forward." The Asari councilor said "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." She began

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." The Salarian Councilor said

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instrments of our will." The Asari Councilor continued

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." The Turian councilor ended "You are the first among your species to become a Spectre, Congratulations."

"_Never thought I'd hear that that from a Turian." _Shepard thought but then realized he just gained a position almost impossible by any other person in the galaxy, he didn't want to piss of the Council, at least not yet. "Thank you Councilor." Was all Shepard said before he bowed before the three members of the Council.

"You are now a Spectre, you have the authority of wherever you go, and you can take Saren down by any means you believe are fit." The Asari Councilor stated "This meeting is adjourned."

"Looks like you finally did it Shepard, you gonna need a ship and some supplies. Anderson come with me. Meet us at the dock when you're ready, Shepard." Udina said and left the Council area

"Wow not even a congratulations." Tali said

"What do you expect from a politician?" Shepard said

"Well he is a politician, so of course we can't expect him for anything." Ashley said

"Alright gang let's go." Shepard said and they had made it down the stairs before Shepard saw an Admiral arguing over a terminal. "Something wrong Admiral?"

"Commander Shepard, congratulations on becoming humanity's first Spectre." The Admiral said congratulating the new Spectre "Good to see you again John. How have you been?" Kahoku said as he shook hands and hugged the young Commander as they had fought together during the Skyllian Blitz on Elysium. They even knew each other from before the Blitz they, both went to the Academy around the same time but Kahoku rose through the ranks quicker than Shepard.

"Well, other than becoming a Spectre not so bad." Shepard said smirking "The Council sent me on a mission to hunt down Saren."

"Well, shouldn't you not be telling him what the mission is Commander?" Kaiden asked

"He'll keep quiet, we're old friends." Shepard stated "We went through the Academy together and we fought together during the Blitz." Shepard said explaining their relationship to the rest of the crew. "So what are doing? I heard you arguing with that terminal."

"Well I've been trying to talk to one of the Council's assistant but I keep getting stonewalled." Kahoku said

"Well, I'm a Spectre now so I can do what you need."

"I'm not going to ask you to do that Shepard." Kahoku said insisting he didn't need Shepard's help

"Admiral, it would be my honor to help an old friend."

"Alright, my men were sent out to respond to a distress system on the planet Edolus in the Sparta System in the Artimus Tau Cluster." Kahoku said "They were supposed to report in when they got there but it's been days since I've last heard from them. I need to know what has become of them."

"It would be an honor to help you Admiral." Shepard said

"Thanks again John, I owe you one. I'll be here when you return, if not then you know where to find me." The admiral said shaking hands with Shepard and leaving.

"Commander, shouldn't we be heading over to the docking bay?" Kaiden asked

"Yeah, let's go." Shepard said as they had left the Citadel Tower and headed toward C-Sec Academy because that's where the elevator to the docking bay was. The trip there was mostly silent, until a radio call came in over Shepard's radio.

"Commander Shepard, is that you?" the heavy French accent asked

"Yeah, go for Commander Shepard." Shepard said answering his radio

"My name is Lieutenant Girard of the Alliance working alongside with C-Sec." Girad said "She has a gun that was taken from one of my men when she overpowered him and has herself holed up behind some crates."

"What does this have to do with me?" Shepard asked

"Well…" Girard said as there was silence for a few seconds "She's a survivor from Mindoir, Commander." Just then Shepard's heart sank as his mind raced back to the small little backwater colony that he called home before the Batarians massacred everyone he knew and loved. He had taken it upon himself to see this through and make sure this girl does not harm herself or others.

"Alright, Lieutenant I'm on my up." Shepard said "Alenko, take Wrex and Garrus back to the Normandy while I deal with this."

"Shepard, shouldn't we meet up with Udina and the Captain?" Ashley said

"I need to do this, just tell them that it's a personal matter that I need to handle." Shepard said

"You got it Shepard." Kaiden said "What about Williams and Tali?"

"They'll be coming with me in case something happens but I hope it won't come to that."

"Roger that." Kaiden said as he took Garrus and Wrex back to the Normandy to meet with Udina and Captain Anderson. Shepard took Ashley and Tali to the farside of the Alliance dock to meet up with Lieutenant Girard and his men.

Shepard had arrived on the upper deck of the docking bay to see Lieutenant Girard and his men standing by. "Lieutenant Girad, Commander Shepard." Shepard said shaking hands with the L-T

"Thank you for coming Commander. If anyone can get her out of this it's you." Girard said

"It would be an honor Lieutenant, it's hard going through what happened there. It's impossible to forget what happened." Shepard said "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, if you can maybe inject her with this sedative, we can get her the help she needs. I also have a sniper standing by in case but I don't want to use him unless it's the absolutely last resort." Girard stated "Here's the sedative and hopefully you can convince her to take it without doing anything rash."

"With all due respect Lieutenant, I wanna convince her to get help and have her go willingly. I won't use the sedative unless I have to and you can tell you sniper to stand down because I will not need him. She will not die on my watch, whether it be her or someone else." Shepard said giving the sedative back to Girard

"It's your call Commander, I'll tell my men to stand down while you take care of this." Girard said motioning his men to stand down and Shepard made his way up to the crates before he was stopped by the young quarian.

"Be careful, Shepard." Tali said

"I will Tali, thank you." Shepard said as he continued his way past the crates where he saw the young woman squatting behind the crates in the fetal position with a pistol in her hand.

Shepard walked up behind the crates and stated his name "Hello, I'm Commander John Shepard. What's your name?"

"The masters beat her for saying her name but she was called Talitha once." The woman said with tears in her eyes "The masters beat her for crying."

"It's okay the masters aren't going to hurt you anymore Talitha, you were on Mindoir right?" Shepard said

"Yes, she was." Talitha stated

"Well, you can call me John, I was on Mindoir too." Shepard said "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

"Please, don't hurt me!" She shouted backing herself against the crates.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. I only wanna talk, I know what you went through on Mindoir." Shepard stated "How were your parents?"

"They, the masters incinerated them." Talitha said beginning to sound even sadder "I saw them burned alive, I tried to play dead but they found. The masters always find us." Talitha said

"It's okay, Talitha it's all over now." Shepard said "You have developed something called Stockholm Syndrome, you're going to be okay. If you see people I know, they can heal you."

"Are they gonna… are they gonna hurt her?" Talitha asked

"No they're not, they helped me overcome what you went through. I was on Mindoir too, you're going to be okay now." Shepard said sitting down next her and gave her a hug

"It's going to be okay, I'm going to be okay." Talitha said finally not talking in third person

"You're going to be okay. Let's go." Shepard said standing up and offering Talitha his hand in peace and with luck she took it and brought her over to Lieutenant Girard. "Take good care of her, Lieutenant."

"Your… you're not coming?" Talitha asked

"I have my own destiny, if you ever need anything don't hesitate to call me." Shepard said "Even if you want to just talk."

"Alright, thank you John." Talitha said as Lieutenant Girad's men took her down the elevator to the med center.

"I can't believe you did what you did, Commander. That was unbelievable." Girard said

"It was my pleasure, not everyone comes out of this sane. I know what she went through, make sure she gets the best help possible." Shepard said

"Thank you again, Commander." Girard said leaving the docking bay down the elevator to catch up to his men.

"Alright let's get to the Normandy, knowing Udina, he's probably getting impatient." Shepard said looking at Tali and Ashley. They took a shuttle to the other side of the docking bay to meet up with Kaiden, Garrus, Wrex, Udina, and Anderson. Udina being impatient as he is was standing there pacing back and forth.

"Commander Shepard, where have you been?" Udina said almost getting in the Commander's face

"None of your damn business, Udina. What's the news?" Shepard asked pushing Udina away

"Well, you've been named Captain of the Normandy as Captain Anderson is stepping down his position as CO." Udina announced

"I'm honored sir but are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Shepard asked

"I'm getting old and besides you're the only one who can take Saren. You know the crew so it's not like adjusting to a new ship." Anderson said

"Do we have any leads?" Ashley asked

"Well, we've got reports of geth attacks on the colony of Feros, also we've heard that Matriarch Benezia is on Noveria. There is also something else, Benezia has a daughter that is a Prothean Expert, and she is currently located somewhere in the Artimus Tau Cluster, her name's Liara T'Soni." Udina stated

"I think we'll start with finding Dr. T'Soni in the Artimus Tau Cluster." Shepard said

"Alright fine, but I have a meeting to get to, so if you have any other questions you can direct them to Captain Anderson." Udina said leaving the docking bay area.

After Udina left Anderson finally opened his mouth "I can't stand that asshole."

"Well of course he's a politician." Shepard said smirking

"Still, you need to get a move on if you're going to catch Saren." Anderson stated "I have my reasons for stepping down, you need not to ask it."

"Well it's been my pleasure Captain. Take care sir." Shepard said popping a salute to his old friend.

"You too Shepard, stay safe out there." Anderson said returning the salute and leaving Shepard and the rest of his team on the dock.

"Let's get out of here, get your gear stowed away. We fly off this station in five." Shepard said to Tali and Ashley. They moved from the docking bay back on to the Normandy with everyone moving to the crew deck to unload their gear. Tali had moved her gear to engineering with her being a quarian and everything. She made her way down to engineering with a sack she had from her pilgrimage but with even less in it. She could tell that she was getting looks from the rest of the crew, she also did her best to make herself feel more like home.

"Hey, my name's Tali." She said introducing herself to Engineer Adams

"My name's Engineer Adams, glad to meet you Tali, feel free to study the ship. Anything useful you can bring back the fleet will be appreciated I'm sure." Adams said

"Thank you sir." Tali said and left to go unpack, she left for her bunk which was isolated from the rest of the crew deck. She unpacked her bag and found an old photo of her, Kal, and Ya and looked at it and smiled through her mask. She had wondered how their pilgrimages were going and thought how hers has gone so far as well. By the sheer look in her eye one could tell she was homesick, but she had put the thought in the back of her head and laid down to get some shuteye for the night, just when Shepard walked into her room.

"Shepard, I mean Commander." Tali said tripping over her own words as she got nervous when talking to people she found attractive.

"You can just call me Shepard." He said taking a seat next to the quarian "You know I've never actually seen a quarian before, I mean I've read plenty about your race and with the Geth, which is something I don't hold against your people. This is my first time meeting a quarian and I have to say I'm very impressed." Shepard said which made Tali blush a little because she didn't know if that was because she was pretty of just fascinating because of being a quarian. The thought of Shepard thinking her as pretty was thrown to the front of her mind.

"Meeting a human is something too, but it also depends on the human as well." Tali said "Some can be complete bosh'tets while others are just sweethearts who were raised properly by their parents or even those who feel they can do well by being the best they can be. You fall into the last two as I've seen." Tali continued which in turn made Shepard blush a little too "You are so far remarkable beyond words, your stunt with the trauma victim was just unbelievable."

"Well, when something like that happens, it changes you and if you let it change you, you are never the same person again. I was fortunate to change my life after that happened." Shepard said

"Well, rescuing a damsel in distress adds to your track record too." Tali said lightly

"It helps if the damsel in distress is a beautiful one too." Shepard said flirting with the young quarian

"Are you flirting with me Commander?" Tali asked

"And what if I am?" Shepard said teasingly

"You don't know what to expect behind the mask though and that's what makes most people back away. Not to mention our immune systems aren't exactly the greatest in the galaxy." Tali stated

"You know, it doesn't matter what is on the outside. But it's what's on the inside that counts." Shepard said "I can always requisition the medical supplies you need, all you need to do is say the word and I'll get it for you." Shepard said

"Thank you, Shepard. I really appreciate it." Tali said

"Now, if you excuse me, I have to go talk to Joker at the helm and plot our next course." Shepard said getting up from the makeshift bunk. "But before I go." Shepard leaned over and planted a kiss on her hand. Shepard knew that the most sensitive place on the quarian suit is the hand, so he planted a wet kiss on her suit which in turn almost made Tali melt into a thousand pieces. "Good night Tali, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow." Shepard said leaving and making his way up to the bridge to meet up with Joker.

Shepard made his way up past the crew deck and pass the CIC on his way to meet Joker on the bridge.

"Hey, what's up Commander?" Joker announced

"Same shit, different day. I mean other than taking command of the Captain's ship, this just feels wrong. He should be the one here not me." Shepard said

"Well, if anyone's going to be taking down Saren it's gonna be you. The whole crew is with you until the end." Joker said

"Thanks Joker. Anyway I need you to plot a course for Edolus in the Sparta System in the Artimus Tau Cluster."

"You got it Commander, just punch up the coordinates on the galaxy map and we'll be good to go." Joker said. Shepard left the helm to put the coordinates in the galaxy map just like Joker said and left the Citadel and onward toward find out what had become of Admiral Kohaku's men.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Decided to take it slower than before since someone suggested but re-read over the last chapter and thought there was a little too much dialogue so this one still has plenty but not as much as before. So as of right now I have slowed down the relationship between the two, at least for now. Also the speech used in the film Independence Day is in here but revised for it to make sense with the game lol. I do not own anything from the film. I will probably not upload anything else until next week so w/o further ado, here you go. :D**_

* * *

"Hold on a minute Shepard, don't you want to say something to the crew before we launch." Joker asked from his seat at the helm.

"Guess I should if it's gonna boost up the morale huh." Shepard said as Joker handed him the comm "Good evening crew. This mission is a tough one ahead of us, I'm not gonna lie to you each and every one us will go down in history as the ones who kicked Saren's ass back into the hole he crawled out of. Everyone is going to be counting on us to bring his sorry ass down, not just Asari or Turian or even mankind. 'Mankind'. That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore, we need all the help we can get and yes even if that means picking up a few aliens along the way as humanity cannot do this alone. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps its fate that today is the Fourth of July back on Earth and not all of you are from the United States, hell I'm not even from Earth but if we let Saren win, none of us will have a planet to go back to. You will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day it will be known that it wasn't the Turians or the Asari or the Salarians but it will be known that Humanity has saved the galaxy from destruction, but as the day mankind declared in one voice: 'We will not go quietly into the night!' We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! I trust each and every one of you to the fullest to perform your duties to the best of your abilities. Remember in the end, you have been the finest crew I have ever served with and I will guarantee that each and every one of you will come home." Shepard stated finally finishing his speech as he heard whooping and cheering below deck.

"Well said speech, Commander." Joker said "But I think I've heard that speech somewhere before."

"Don't judge, Joker." Shepard said smirking "Independence Day was one of my favorite movies."

Joker just looked back up at the Commander and laughed, he knew what Shepard went through in his life and knew that if he meant a promise, he would keep it. Shepard had walked back down to his quarters and threw off his gear and thought about how tough the mission was really gonna be. _This is what it feels like to be in command. _He knew being in command wasn't going to be easy, whether it be making orders that would have an impact on morale or sending men to certain death to complete his mission. Morale was needed for victory, if none came then they might as well be dead. Sending men to their death to complete missions was something that every Commander dreaded about being in command, whether it be General Pickett at Gettysburg or those in on the beaches of Normandy during WWII, even during the hellhole known as Vietnam, it is the one thing someone in a position of command never wishes they have to do.

Being CO was not something he thought he would have but then again Pressly would have thought that he would become XO either. With the top two positions established, the position was still an open candidate for third in command which usually during the 20th and 21st century meant COB or Chief of the Boat on a submarine. Since humanity's space travel discovery the late 21st century there was little need for boats since ships were built and flown in space. There were some Captains in the Alliance Navy that refused to have COB in their triad or chain of command, while others chose to have it as if there wasn't, enlisted personal wouldn't have a direct superior which would usually result in disagreements between the officers and enlisted and when that happened mutinies soon followed suit. With the Normandy being small enough, it was technically considered small enough to be a space submarine so Shepard had thought about assigning a Chief of the Boat to the Normandy as it might do good for morale.

The position of Chief of the Boat had two main responsibilities, generally for the day-to-day operations of the boat as well as the morale and training of the boat's enlisted personnel, and to bridge the gap between enlisted and officers. The COB is not generally the highest ranking enlisted personal on the ship but it usually well regarded and respected the other shipmates. Shepard had served with a few COB's when he just graduated the Academy and before he was recommend for the N7 program. The Chief of the Boat's maintained order for the enlisted personal either on the ship or when they were on shore leave and the rest of the crew looked up to them which is one of the reasons why they are so well respected by their subordinates and superiors alike.

Shepard had a couple candidates in mind but wasn't sure of who yet. He was rummaging through personal records to see each of the senior enlisted personal history, he had served with most of them when Captain Anderson was still CO but now actually realized how each of their lives mattered and that 75 to 80 percent of the crew had someone to go back to. _Reyes, Johnson, O'Malley_ Shepard thought as those three were most likely the candidates for Chief of the Boat. He had to think of a way to interview them not in the common eye of the crew, the thoughts just kept going through his head until he passed out onto his bunk with the files still in his hands.

/\\\\

Tali had been laying in her bunk thinking about what had transcended with Shepard earlier. _I can't believe he actually did that, I mean I have no idea in hell on how this going to work between us. If it does work I mean, he could always lose interest in me and head for that butch soldier that he has eyes for. I've seen the way he looks at her, I can't believe he has the guile to flirt with me while eyeing Chief Williams up. Keelah, this is making my head hurt._ Tali thought as she had feelings for Shepard but didn't know if he actually wanted her or was just flirting for the fun of it. When her head began hurting she just threw the thought aside and worked on engineering of some sort.

She hopped out of her bunk and opened her door and headed toward the engine room. Most of the crew had gone to bed but there were some who were on watch duty. One of the guards had watched Tali because of her background as most thought the quarians as thieves with slippery-hands. She had given the guard a nod as in only a matter of a few hours of being on the Normandy she had made plenty of friends. Being social came with being a quarian as since being trapped in the enviro-suits due to their weakened immune systems, they can't interact with others as normally as the other species can such as Asari, Turian, or Human.

Tali had been known for making plenty of friends as she was an active social person. Her best friend was Kal'Reegar, he always wanted to become one who defended the fleet. It was all those human movies that he saw as a kid, he was also kind of shy too but Tali had made him into a more social person. Tali had a very strong influence on those around her, if anyone knew how to solve problems it was usually Tali. Tali and Kal had grown up together whether it be getting into trouble which usually what happened or helping each other with tasks that had been set upon by their parents.

Tali's father was Admiral Rael'Zorah of the Admiralty Board back on the fleet which meant he was someone with a power of authority and well respected by his peers. In Rael's eyes, family came second as geth research had priority for his people. Tali hadn't spent much time with her father when she was a kid mainly because he tried to keep his on the safety of the fleet, when her father wasn't around Shala'Raan played the role of Tali's mother after she had passed away a few years after Tali's birth. Raan had been friends with Tali's father for years and Tali had of course no real parental guidance around. With her mother passed away and her father almost never seeing her, Tali still grew up to be a young ambitious and headstrong woman.

Tali thought about what the future entailed whether it be with Shepard or not. For now she was focused on working on the engines since she couldn't sleep, when there was a hand that was placed on her shoulder. She jumped back about 3 feet only to see it was Engineer Adams, she regained her composure and began working on the engine again.

"Hey, Tali." Engineer Adams said, "Let me guess couldn't sleep huh?"

"Yeah it's a little too quiet in here, besides might as well learn some new stuff if I can't sleep." Tali said musing herself

"Alright, well if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Adams said leaving the room

_I still can't stop thinking about Shepard, damn it._ Tali thought as she was fumbling with the console in front of her _Alright, that's it I need to get some sleep or I'll be useless tomorrow._ Tali turned off the console and headed for her bunk to try and get some shut eye for the day ahead tomorrow.

/\\\\

"Upsie-daise Commander." Joker announced of the comm waking the Commander up "Figure we're 40 minutes out from the Edolus and you should probably get your ground team ready."

Shepard woke up finding a stack of files on his stomach from the night before _Guess I must've nodded off last night while looking over the personal records_. He stacked the files up neatly on his desk and stood up to stretch. "Thanks Joker. You make a horrible alarm clock by the way." Shepard said musing himself

"Would you rather me start singing Katy Perry instead?" Joker asked

Shepard just shuddered at the thought of Joker singing Katy Perry, if people back in the 21st century hated her, I don't think popularity changed that much. "I'd put a gun to my head and pull the trigger." Shepard said as he heard Joker on the bridge smirk at the snide remark "Anyway get those settled in the briefing room."

"Roger that, Commander." Joker said and he made an announcement that brought all of the remaining crew members on to the crew deck. Shepard threw on some fatigues and walked out toward briefing room on the crew deck and saw his whole crew sitting there waiting for their Commanding Officer to make an announcement. He saw Ashley, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus all standing in the back along with Alenko and Pressly talking with each other.

"Now I know it might be hard for an adjustment for change of command, hell it's hard for me and I'm sure Pressly over there is still in shock about it." Shepard said giving the crew something to smile about for the time being "I am going to be reinstating the Chief of the Boat position, Senior Chief O'Malley step forward please."

Senior Chief Duncan O'Malley was a little on the pudgy side but not as bad as some you see back on Earth working for Alliance Command. Fiery red hair as most Irishman have as their trait and his personality was something distinguishing about this Senior Chief. He had been in the Alliance Navy for 15 something years and was still willing to serve until the day either he died or they forced him to retire. O'Malley had seen his fair share of action back on the Batarian held moon of Torfan, everyone on the ship respected him which made him a perfect candidate for the job.

O'Malley was now standing at attention at the Commander's side waiting for his next order "Senior Chief O'Malley, it is my great pleasure to give you the position of Chief of the Boat, you will be the bridge between enlisted and officer personal and will serve as my third in command. You will report to Navigator Pressly as he will report to me." Shepard announced as he placed the COB badge on O'Malley's uniform "Congratulations Senior Chief." Shepard said congratulating him and giving him a salute which in turn O'Malley saluted and returned back to his seat. "Now, I know all of you will be expecting to bring down Saren as soon as possible but for right now, we are charting a course to Edolus in the Sparta System in the Artimus Tau Cluster. I promised an Admiral that we would find his men who seemingly have not reported in, something has happened to them, I just have the feeling in my gut. We are going to bring his men home, as most of you know about those we recently picked up." Shepard said pointing to Garrus, Wrex, and Tali. "Garrus will be working in engineering with the Mako, Wrex will be working with combat training and Tali will be working with Engineer Adams to help work on the engine. You will be getting to know them as the mission goes on. We will be arriving soon, the ground team will consist of Williams, Alenko and Reyes, I will be in the Mako with Tali, O'Malley and Garrus. The rest of you will be providing security for the ship while we're away. Do I make myself clear?"

An eruption of yes sirs came out of the room. "Good, ground team suit up in five. Mako team, get your gear stowed away in the Mako. Dismissed." The crew got up and went to their assigned duty stations but not before Machinists Mate First Class Esteban Reyes came up to him, he would have made Chief but problems in the field and with authority kept him at First Class.

"Are you sure assigning me to the ground team is a good idea, sir?" Reyes said walking up to the Commander

"I'm sure, Reyes. I know you've had situations in the past but your time is due." Shepard said "I wouldn't have put you there if I didn't have faith in your abilities. I know your history with authority but you'll do just fine under Alenko's command. Now go, suit up."

"Aye,aye sir." Reyes said leaving the room, Shepard just looked at him and smirked. He threw the datapad he was looking at and headed down to engineering to meet up with both of the teams. The M35 Mako is an all-terrain and purpose infantry fighting vehicle that was built for the Alliance, it was replaced by the M29 Grizzly since the Grizzly lacked mobility and the Mako was easy to maneuver and deploy in almost any terrain. Although, the Mako isn't spacious, but then again the Alliance wasn't built for comfort, it is deployable on world no matter the weather. The Mako is also turreted with a 155mm mass accelerator cannon and coaxial mounted machine gun, each needing its own position. Deployment can also lead to low-gravity environments, for low-gravity environments, the Mako is equipped with mirco-thrusters and a small eezo core which can be used to increase mass and provide greater traction. Due to use of combat on a variety of environments, the Mako is environmentally sealed and is powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell.

"Ground team, you are going to be deployed on the ground and investigate the beacon while Tali, O'Malley, Garrus, and I will establish a perimeter around the beacon. If anything goes haywire, the Normandy will be standing by to pick you guys up. Clear?"

"You got it, Shepard." Alenko said to Shepard

"Alright, everyone move out." Shepard announced and with that the Normandy touched down on Edolus and the two strike teams moved out toward the distress beacon. The atmosphere was thick and hard to breathe so everyone wore their enviro helmets just to make sure. Alenko, Williams, and Reyes continued for about half a mile from where they began to finally find the distress beacon. They began to move around the beacon only to find bodies of 15-20 men.

"Commander, you better take a look at this." Alenko mentioned over the comm as Shepard drove the Mako over to their position only to find the same sight as the three earlier had stumbled upon.

"What the fuck happened here?" Shepard said getting out of the vehicle, "The distress beacon must have been a distraction but I don't see any signs of fighting around here. Williams, disable that beacon to make sure no one answers." Upon closer inspections of the bodies, Shepard found that not a single one of them had any noticeable damage to them just when the ground started violently shaking.

"What the hell is going on now?" Reyes mentioned

"Commander I'm picking up a reading on the radar" O'Malley mentioned from inside the Mako "There's a very large object not too far from here."

Shepard had fought enough times and read about previous battles to know what this sign meant, it had to be a thresher maw. "Everyone move now!" Shepard shouted as everyone booked it in the direction they came from as Shepard hopped back into the Mako just when the ginormous beast rose up from the ground. Thresher Maws are solitary creatures that live underground and can range up to 30 meters above the surface and can have twice the length below the surface. Thresher Maws are highly territorial which makes them extremely dangerous for those not watching their step, the subterranean carnivores never fully come out of the ground, only their head and tentacles come out when they attack. With their large size, thresher maws are usually immobile on the surface but they have great maneuverability below the surface and typically have very durable plating which can absorb a ton of damage, which makes it a very tough being to take down. They usually spit very acidic acids that cause a tremendous amount of splash damage, the spit is so acidic that it can burn through armor in a matter of seconds and can burn through the steel plating of a vehicle in a matter of minutes. Usually thresher maws lay dormant for centuries or even millennia's without being disturbed but when they are, you should begin the running and hope you can get away.

"O'Malley, fire the main cannon at that son of a bitch!" Shepard shouted "Garrus fire the turret!"

"Shepard, the turret won't fire, it's jammed!" Garrus pointed out

_Everything just has to go wrong _Shepard thought "Tali, see what you can do about it."

"On it Shepard." Tali said as she sprang up from her seat and hurried over to Garrus' gun to see what she can do.

"Kaiden, how are you guys doing?" Shepard asked

"We radioed Joker and he's on his way down now but other than that scary ass fuck chasing us, everything's fine."

"Roger, we'll keep you covered as best we can." Shepard stated ending the conversation "Tali, how we doing?"

"The gun's almost operational, just need a few more seconds." Tali said working as fast as she could since time was of the essence

Shepard looked over at O'Malley seeing him blast away at the giant beast "How's it going Chief?"

"This fucker's too strong there's no way he's going down!" O'Malley shouted still firing the main cannon as best he could, just then alarms started going off around the cockpit

"What's going on now?!" Shepard yelled as he could not catch a break but it war there are no breaks.

Tali had finished with fixing the gun and Garrus was firing the turret and Tali rushed over to the console "It seems the thresher maw's spit is eating through the kinetic barriers."

"Shit, shit, shit." Shepard cursed under his breath as things were going from bad to worse "Alright I have an idea." Shepard said putting his helmet on and grabbing the M-920 Cain

"Oh this can't be good." Garrus muttered

"Shut up Garrus for a second, while I think this through." Shepard announced "O'Malley take the wheel and just start swerving around to keep him occupied while Tali you take his spot on the main cannon. I'll go out there and give our friend a little taste of nuclear destruction." Shepard said smirking

Tali's thoughts raced about what was going to happen next "Shepard you can't do that it's a suicide mission."

"I'll be fine Tali now just get on that gun and start firing at that bastard." Shepard jumped out the back of the Mako as O'Malley took the wheel and began evasive maneuvers. Shepard charged up the Cain to where the barrel was spinning _I really hope this thing works_ Shepard thought as he let go of the trigger and a rocket came firing out of the barrel and straight toward the thresher maw. The thresher maw didn't have any time to react as the rocket hit him and exploded as he saw the beast fall down on the ground dead, after it hit the ground he walked over to it to make sure it was really dead when the maw gave a shout of it being alive, Tali in the main cannon fired and blew the maw's head clean off. "Nice shot Tali, I guess I owe you one." Shepard said which made Tali giggle behind her quarian mask. "What's your status Alenko?" Shepard said

"We're all clear here, sir. Joker's coming by to pick you guys up." Kaiden mentioned

"Roger that, standing by." Shepard said "Good job out there guys, and Garrus, sorry for snapping at you."

"It's all good, Shepard. When you're in the heat of the battle something like that is natural." Garrus said smirking

Shepard looked at Tali and smiled, the Normandy arrived to pick up the group and the Mako. "Garrus take a look at the Mako and see how bad the damage is. The rest of you meet me in the debriefing room." Shepard said gathering his small team in the debriefing/briefing/comm room. "The next plan of attack is to go find Liara T'Soni on Therum. She is the daughter of Matriarch Benezia and could be a valuable asset if we can find her. We'll be there within the hour since it's only in the next system, so I'm taking Tali and Wrex along with me on this one." Shepard said "You two grab your gear and be ready in an hour the rest of you dismissed."

/\\\\

"Commander, ETA to Therum, 5 minutes." Joker announced over the comm "Prepare for drop."

Shepard gathered his team in the docking bay and loaded everyone into the Mako, Wrex took up most of the room near the main cannon as he was barely able to even sit down. When Wrex finally sat down in his seat, Shepard and Tali felt the Mako drop slightly and the two looked at each other and burst into laughter. Wrex just glared at the two and waited for them to stop laughing, when Tali and Shepard had finally calmed down, everyone strapped themselves in and were dropped at least 200 feet out of the docking bay onto the surface of Therum. "Drop successful Joker, moving out now."

"Roger that Commander, radio back in for pickup." Joker said and went silent for the next couple hours until they needed the Normandy. Shepard had moved the Makoo out of the LZ and on their way toward a structure on the far side of the canyon. That is where Dr. T'Soni most likely was.

Tali looked at the sensors and noticed incoming dropships "Shepard, we got geth dropships inbound, seems were not the only ones trying to find this doctor."

"So it seems." Shepard muttered "Let 'em have it."

Wrex had a shit eating grin on his face as he was dying for some action "With pleasure, Shepard." Wrex said as he opened fire on the main turret mowing down the geth armatures that the dropships landed. Explosion after explosion were appearing on the outside of the Mako, Shepard could feel the shockwaves outside as it rocked the Mako. Tali monitored the sensors as the number of hostiles kept dropping like flies. Every now and then between them and the structure were pockets of geth trying to stop them but in the end, they proved to no avail as they became mincemeat for Wrex firing the turret of the Mako.

The team reached a pass that for once the Mako could not blow through, they had to get out on foot and hoof it to the structure that was a close to a kilometer away. The atmosphere was breathable so there was no need for their enviro helmets but Shepard usually had his on just in case. "Alright gang, looks like we're hoofing it for now." They all piled out of the Mako and walked through the gap between the rocks only to encounter more geth resistance _These guys just won't do they _Shepard thought opening fire on the incoming hostiles "Alright here's the plan, Wrex and I will hit 'em with our biotics will Tali, you will go around and attempt to flank them from the rear with your omni-tool. If you can disrupt their systems so they can fire at each other, which would make our lives a lot simpler." Shepard said as he still heard laser fire from above hitting the rocks "Alright, ready Wrex?"

"We're not getting any older Shepard." Wrex said with a smirk

"Alright, now!" Shepard shouted as Wrex and John both used their biotics to throw, slam, and pull the geth around. Tali snuck around the geth who were busy being distracted by Wrex and Shepard's antics with their biotcs. Tali hacked a few of their systems to make them fire on each other which made her chuckle at the matter. Wrex and Shepard got a kick out of themselves when they used the biotics to slam two geth into each other and look at each bewildered as one of them was being hacked, they each fired at each other. In the end Wrex, Shepard, and Tali were still standing with about a couple dozen geth lying dead at their feet. "Final count as of now, 42." Shepard mentioned cleaning off his shotgun Wrex just smirked "How much Wrex?"

"43." He said with a shit-eating grin as he blasted off a piece of a geth's flashlight headpiece

"He was already dead." Shepard said not amused by the action

Wrex didn't believe it "I saw him move, Shepard don't question me." Shepard looked around to find Tali to see if she can settle this

"What do you think Tali, was it moving when Wrex shot it?"

Tali just leaned against a rock not amused by the situation "Pff, I wasn't watching but are we gonna sit here arguing at this or go find the doctor?" Wrex and Shepard just shrugged at each other

"Suppose you're right, if you think your right Wrex then go ahead and think it, but in reality were tied at least for now." Shepard said "Let's get going to find the doctor." The group headed up the mountain side and reached the entrance toward the underground structure with weapons ready. There was a sound that sounded all too familiar, a geth dropship rocketing troops to the ground including a geth armature. Shepard ordered Wrex and Tali to take cover while Shepard darted around blaster fire toward the armature. Wrex and Tali took out the surrounding geth as Shepard played hero, but in his mind, if not him then who else would volunteer. Shepard made it up to the armature and stuck a few grenades and leaped toward nearby cover before the grenades blew the armature into a tiny million pieces. "We made quick work of them, now let's move and find the doctor before it's too late." By the amount of geth Shepard and his team had already encountered, they knew they weren't just here for the scenery and time was of the essence as they headed up the ramp that led to the underground structure.

Shepard and his team had made it inside and realized that it seemed that the rock formed around the barriers they were seeing, the barriers had to be Prothean. Encountering a few more geth, they were led to an elevator that made it about half way down before it short-circuited and had to move out on foot. They maneuvered around debris that seemed to have stop the elevator when suddenly, Shepard and his team heard a voice shouting out for help.

"Help, is somebody out there please?" the voice said

Shepard looked at the figure as it was an asari trapped in a stasis field of some sort "Dr. Liara T'Soni, I presume."

"Yeah that's me." Liara said "I don't to be a stickler but do you mind trying to find a way to get me out of this?"

"Yeah sure, we'll improvise." Shepard said turning around looking at the big ass mining laser, he took a look at the controls and realized that he had not any technology skills whatsoever. Luckily Tali was here, "Tali, hack the controls on this mining laser to get it running so we can get around and rescue Dr. T'Soni."

"On it, Shepard. Gonna need a few minutes to get it running though." The young spunky quarian said as geth began rocketing the area around the mining laser.

"Wrex and I will have you covered Tali, just get it started." Shepard said as he and Wrex took cover near the laser and began opening fire on the remaining geth. Again the geth put up little resistance as they were easily eliminated by the two expertly trained soldiers. Tali had finished hacking it and suddenly the mining laser turned on and mined a large hole through the ground under the chamber Dr. T'Soni was held in. "Wow, what a hole." Shepard commented, the team sprinted through as the damage done by the laser surely would've caused a catastrophic collapse in a few minutes. They raced over to an elevator that led to the chamber that Dr. T'Soni was held in.

"Ahh, there you are." Shepard said arriving to free the young asari

Liara was still struggling to get free "How did you get in?"

"Never underestimate the power of superior firepower." Shepard said as he was about to free her when Tali spoke up.

"Are you sure that we should free her? I mean her mother is working with that traitor Saren."

"I haven't seen or even talked to my mother in 50 years and I have nothing to do with that turian bastard." Liara shouted

"If she was working with Saren then the geth wouldn't be trying to kill her." Shepard said hitting the release button to let go of the stasis barrier holding Liara, when suddenly the whole structure was collapsing.

Tali, Wrex, and Liara were moving around to avoid the falling debris "The facility is coming down around us, in a few minutes we'll be part of the lava." Tali mentioned

"Joker, bring the Normandy down here. On the double." Shepard said

"Roger that, Commander ETA 8 minutes." Joker responded

Debris was still falling around them as the elevator continued up through the facility "If we don't get out of here, I'll kill him myself." Wrex said

The elevator reached the top only to be met by 10 or so geth followed by a krogan. "Surrender, or don't that would be more fun." The krogan who seemed to be in charge spoke up

Shepard looked around analyzing the situation the geth already surrounded them but with enough biotics between Shepard and Wrex should easily disable them, as for the krogan, which was a different story. "You do realize the facility is coming down around us." Shepard spoke

"Yes, exhilarating isn't it." The krogan said "Saren wants the girl, hand her over and you might just walk away alive."

Shepard thought about it for a second and it wasn't worth it "We don't have time for this idiot. Charge!" Shepard shouted as he blasted out his biotics to slam the near geth into a wall. He rolled behind some cover just in time to avoid a shot made by a geth sniper that was quickly taken down by Tali's electronics. Abruptly, the cover Shepard was hiding behind was rammed to the ground by the krogan that almost knocked him out. Shepard got up to realize he was face to face with the krogan pointing his shotgun at Shepard's face. John thought that was it when the krogan's head exploded and saw Wrex standing behind the corpse of the now dead krogan battlemaster. "Thanks Wrex, now let's move." Shepard said as they bobbed and weaved through the facility that was collapsing, they reached the exit just as the structure fell into the lava, luckily the Normandy was standing by outside ready for pickup.

"For future advice next time Commander, lava tends to distort our sensors and melt our hull. Alliance brass wouldn't be too happy if that happened, just sayin though." Joker mentioned over the comm in the debriefing room where everyone was gathered.

"We almost died and your pilot is making jokes." Liara said not sounding particularly excited about Joker's comment.

"He's an ass most times, you get used to it." Shepard said

"I see, I never did properly thank you for pulling me out of there." Liara mentioned thanking the group "As I said earlier, I have not seen or spoken to my mother in 50 years."

"You can still be helpful in the long run with your study on the Protheans. Your mother mentioned something about the Reapers in a recording with Saren, do you have any idea what that means?" Shepard asked

"I wish I could do more to help but sorry no I haven't." Liara mentioned as she felt her head as she was going to be sick

"When was the last time you ate or drank?" Kaiden asked

"You should probably go see Doctor Chakwas down in the med bay." Shepard stated "The rest of you dismissed."

Everyone had gotten up to leave before Joker asked if he wanted to speak to the Council about Therum. "Put 'em through Joker." Shepard said as he saw all three councilors in hologram form.

"We've read your report from Therum, Commander." The Asari councilor stated.

"I hope you've taken the necessary precautions for Dr. T'Soni." The Turian councilor stated sounding unhappy as most turians were when they were talking to humans. This conflict was still going back to the First Contact War. When Humanity first made contact with an alien species beyond the Sol Relay, it was hostile. A bloody war that was raged between the Turian fleet, which had the largest military in the galaxy at the time, and the Earth's System Alliance. After years of a bloody conflict, the war came to a draw and mankind was given a place on the citadel. Tension between the two species was still fragile as the Turian government thought humanity should be punished for attacking a member of the Council. Within years humanity was making a name for itself, eventually humanity as a whole were looked down upon by the rest of the galaxy for their ruthlessness especially by the Batarians which were the reason the Batarians no longer had an embassy on the Citadel.

Shepard thought it would be fun to toy with the councilors "Yes of course, councilor. We have her tied down and have her hanging over a tank full of sharks who are extremely hungry. If that doesn't work, we can always duct tape her to the air lock and let her go at any time." Shepard said as he saw all three of the councilor's faces light up from horror, with that reaction, Shepard had a shit-eating grin on his face. "I believe we are losing our connection councilors." Shepard stated

"We are reading you perfectly fine, Commander." The Asari councilor mentioned

Shepard gave Joker the cue to cut communications with the council "Asshole." Shepard muttered "Joker set course for the Citadel, I need to see Admiral Kahoku."

"Roger that, Commander, ETA 3 hours." Joker said as Shepard left the room and headed down to his bunk for some sack time.

"And tell the crew they deserve some shore leave." Shepard said as he was knocked out cold for the next three hours on their way to the Citadel.

/\\\\

Admiral Kahoku was still trying to see a councilor's assistant and was ready to go back to the embassy before Shepard had come up to him. "John, good to see you again. Did you find any signs of my men?"

Shepard was hesitant at first but finally spoke up "I'm sorry old friend, but your men are dead." Kahoku knew that something had happened but didn't want to believe they were dead. "They seemed to have been lured there by a distress beacon and attacked by a Thresher Maw."

"Shit, thank you again John. I have to make some phone calls, they're never easy." Kahoku said

"Is there anything else I can do, Admiral?" Shepard asked

"No, thank you again John." Kahoku mentioned assuring the Commander and left the tower and headed down to the embassies to make the phone calls that no CO ever wanted to make. Since the crew were on shore leave for the time being, Shepard needed some time to himself so he thought that would be best aboard the Normandy, he opened the airlock and headed down to his bunk for some down time. He knew what Kahoku was going through as he himself had to make the same calls to their loved ones saying that their father, husband, brother, or son had fallen in combat. Most of the time, the families would blame whoever they were talking to but few knew what their brother, son, father, and husband had taken the risk and understood that the man or woman behind the phone felt the same way.

/\\\\

Tali had hung around the club Flux down in the wards for a bit since they were on shore leave for a bit and besides it was good to take some time off from the rest of the universe around them. She looked around and saw all the people having a good time and realized that these people have no idea what might happen if Shepard doesn't succeed. She had confidence in the Commander as he already proved himself during the Blitz. If anyone can take down Saren, it was Shepard. Kaiden had come over to check on Tali.

"Hate to break up your fun but we are needed back on the Normandy, we're moving out." Kaiden said.

"Oh, well no one is used to seeing quarians around here. I was thinking of getting a copy of the music here and bring it back to the fleet." Tali said with a chuckle which in turn made Kaiden laugh as well

"You never know, they might like it back on the fleet." Kaiden stated "Let's get back to the Normandy." The two left the club and reported back to the Normandy for their next mission against Saren and the geth.


	3. Chapter 3

_**This one isn't as long as I wanted to be because I ran out of ideas of what to say. Besides I was at Dragon*Con down in Atlanta, GA so it was hard for me to be creative after a weekend of almost no sleep but I tried so since it's over now, figure I'd upload this while I can. Again, isn't as long as I had hoped but I think it is well written nonetheless but that is for you readers to decide. Enough of my blabber, Enjoy! :D Oh yeah, I almost forgot I do not own Star Wars Weekends stuff nor do I own anything else that could be brought up as copyright. **_

* * *

You can tell by the sheer look on Shepard's face that he was amused at the situation unfolding. Pressly on the other hand was clearly frustrated and amused at the same time. Back in the 20th and 21st century, the enlisted crew on a naval submarine usually played a prank that was custom on a submarine, hide the XO's door. How it was accomplished is usually a mystery in the CO and XO's eyes but somehow the enlisted personal of the SSV Normandy pulled it off. "Alright, now where the in the good lord's name is my damn door?" Pressly said befuddled by the situation in front of him. The hinges on the panel of the door were screwed off and all that was left was a metal rod hanging above the doorway. The point of the prank was for the XO to find his door, it was a fun prank what was shared by the whole crew. In the long run, as long as no one got hurt it was good for morale, especially since going after Saren would mean death for most of the crew but having Shepard in charge had changed the morale drastically.

"You know, Pressly looks like a ripe tomato when he's mad." Tali whispered to Kaiden. He burst out in laughter which made Pressly stare down Alenko and Tali as they booked it when they saw the glare. Pressly may not look like much, but he's got it where it counts when the time comes down to it. Pressly still looking at his door less quarters in bewilderment on how the crew was able to hide his door. Shepard was chuckling at the situation but he was needed in the CIC to plot where the next destination would be to follow Saren. He was about to plot course to Noveria to find Matriarch Benezia when there was an incoming transmission from an unknown source.

"Shepard, it's me, Kahoku. I did some digging into the deaths of my men and it was the exact same setup from Akuze." Shepard let his mind wander, Akuze, the site of over 50 men were slain by thresher maws. Not a single survivor, one of Shepard's friends that he served with had was stationed on Akuze when the Alliance marines were slaughtered. Not a single day goes by when Shepard thinks about the pointless deaths that have been caused. A memorial was to be placed at the site to remember those that had fallen, no one could have predicted what went on, but Kahoku was persistent that it wasn't an accident. "I've contacted on of the Shadow Broker's agents and he told me that it was a pro-human splinter group called Cerberus that had set it up as a trap to observe how thresher maws feed." Cerberus was supposedly to be anti-alien and only cared about human interests but with them experimenting on human subjects, it started to sound more like a terrorist organization than group that supported anti-aliens. The Terra Firma Party was also anti-aliened but nothing as extreme as what Cerberus was pulling off. "I'm sure Cerberus, is tracking this recording and probably knows where I am. I have to disappear, if you get this then I hope you can complete what I did not. Good luck, John and Godspeed." The recording finally finished

"Joker triangulate where the recording originated from and try and match it to Cerberus flight patterns." Shepard said

"You got it Shepard, it should take a few hours but I'll have it for you."

"Thanks Joker, if you need me I'll be in the gym." Shepard said heading down to his cabin to grab his gym clothes. He keyed open his door when he was stopped O'Malley.

Shepard turned around to face him "Sir, do you have a minute?" O'Malley asked

Shepard always did his best to bond with his crew as it usually raised morale and in a time like this high morale was needed besides it gave a look into his crew members lives and see how they perform well under pressure. "Sure, Chief my door's always open." Shepard said offering the Chief into his cabin "What's on your mind?" Shepard continued as he grabbed a pair of PT clothes from his drawer and headed to the head to change.

"Well, sir I was wondering." O'Malley started "Are sure it was wise to name me Chief of the Boat?"

Shepard finished changing and looking at himself in the mirror trying to find an answer to the Chief's answer "I'm sure O'Malley." Shepard said walking out of the bathroom "You proved yourself on Torfan, Chief. I heard it was rough on the moon but never got the full details."

O'Malley got up and leaned against the wall "Yeah, it was…" the Chief said looking down and morbid as he ever saw the Chief. O'Malley was headstrong and never let anyone or anything get to him, seeing him like this was hard for Shepard as it was the first time seeing the Chief like this. "It was hard down there, I lost a lot of men trying to take that damn moon. I follow the orders to the letter, always have but..." O'Malley stopped again

"There are some orders that are meant to be questioned." Shepard said finishing his sentence

O'Malley nodded his head in agreement "Yeah, the order the CO gave me was take the bunker on the far side of the moon. It was guarded by a couple thousand Batarians, I had only a handful of men under me. I followed the order as a soldier would, except it didn't go as planned." O'Malley stopped regaining his composure "All of their lives were lost, we walked into a kill zone as we were getting mowed down left and right. I hit the deck as soon as I could, as did the rest of my men but I was the only one to get back to the FOB. We got off a few shots and killed a couple hundred before we got slaughtered, I got back to the FOB and they said that they took the base. Little did I find out later that our team was sent in as a distraction." O'Malley said as tears were about to come out of his eyes "All of those men, lost because the brass sent in my team as a distraction, every one of them had someone or something to go back to. I was never asked to be put in command, now here I am again. Hoping that something like Torfan doesn't happen again." O'Malley finished as he was almost in tears

Shepard kept silent the whole time as he knew what it meant to lose men in his command "Patrick, I'm sorry, I didn't know." He said getting up and bringing him around to face him "I promise, that until the day I die, I will never give an order such as that. That is the burden of command, if you it controls you then you won't be the same afterwards." Shepard continued "There are always assholes in the brass, who most of the time have their head so far up their ass that the lump in their throat is their goddamn nose and have never seen combat. I entrusted you with this command as I knew something like that would never control you. You deserve to have this and I know that you will live up to your name." Shepard said giving confidence into the veteran Chief

"Thank you sir." O'Malley said

Shepard shook his hand with respect "No problem, chief. My door is always open." Shepard said as the Chief left the room and now it was time that he headed for the gym to clear his mind.

John walked into the gym only to find Williams in the gym as well, Shepard knew that fraternization with the crew, especially enlisted personal, would mean a dishonorable discharge and they'd kick his ass right out of the Navy. Still he couldn't help but stare at the young fine Chief who was in tremendous shape, with her perfectly tone ass that seemed to jiggle as she ran on the treadmill and he breasts were somewhat perky too. Shepard wasn't fond of large titties that could have the potential to knock you out if said woman turns the wrong way, no in his mind B-Cups were perfectly fine in his world and that's what Ashley was sporting under her sports bra. Catching Shepard by complete surprise was Ashley who seemed to have notice Shepard staring "You know the rules about fraternization, Commander." Williams said hoping off the treadmill

Shepard couldn't help feel embarrassed as his face turned red as his N7 logo on his shirt "Yeah I know, doesn't mean I can't have any fun." Shepard said smirking

"Still, the answer's no. You're not getting into my pants and that's final." She said walking out of the room and heading for the showers. Shepard walked over to the treadmill and turned it on. Running on a treadmill is still different then running on solid ground but it was the best Shepard can do. He flipped on the TV to find that Disney Hollywood Studios Star Wars Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida on Earth was celebrating the 200th anniversary of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The always exciting Hyperspace Hoopla ends every day with a musical performance with everyone's favorite Star Wars characters performing on stage thinking they can dance. Shepard had always loved going to Earth for the Hyperspace Hoopla as he was a huge nerd of Star Wars. He was also part of the 501st Legion and Mandalorian Mercs, both were costume clubs that did charity work such as going to children's hospitals that have life-threating illnesses like cancer or leukemia, participated in parades, etc. as this was a love for the Star Wars universe and dressing up to put smiles on little kid's faces. Shepard was still part of both of them even though he was still in the military and still attended events when he could as nothing in the galaxy felt better than putting a smile on a child's face.

Shepard had lost track of time and hopped off the treadmill to back to his cabin to take a shower and wipe all the sweat and grime from his body. He threw on an N7 hoodie and fatigue pants and headed up to the bridge to see if Joker had found it where Kahoku was transmitting the Cerberus bases are. "Hey, Joker you track down the coordinates yet?" Shepard asked walking up to see Joker

"Yeah, I did. Some planet called Binthu in the Voyager Cluster, I've already put them in the galaxy map, and we should be there in about an hour." Joker stated

"Alright thanks Joker." Shepard said ready to depart but then decided he could kill time by talking to his crewmates might as well start with Joker. "Hey, Joker do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I'd like to get to know my crew."

"What is this, an interrogation?" Joker asked "You know, the Captain did this same thing, I'll tell you a couple things. You want me as your pilot, I'm not good, I'm not even great, I'm the best damn helmsman in the fleet." He stated assuring there is no one else like him in the fleet "All those commendations in my file? I earned every one of them, not just some charity thing because of my disease."

"Disease, you're not gonna infect the rest of my crew are you?" Shepard said teasing

"No you smart ass. You mean you don't know?" Joker asked "Oh shit. I was born with Vrolik's Syndrome or commonly known as Brittle Bone Disease, the bones in my lower half of the body never fully developed properly, which means one wrong step and 'crack!' very dramatic. Even with advancement's in medicine, I still have problems getting around with leg braces but I've learned to manage my condition. So no need to look after me 24/7, all you need to ask is if I can make the Normandy dance, just down ask me to get up and dance, unless you like the sound of cracking shin bones." Joker finished, smirking.

"So, why does everyone call you Joker anyway?" Shepard asked

Joker still piloting the ship didn't even turn away from his console "Well it's easier than saying Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. Besides, I love making little kids smile."

"Yeah, I knew I recognized you somewhere. You always played Santa Clause on TV." Shepard stated making fun of Joker

"That's right smart ass. Besides, you're not going get anywhere in life by grinning around like an idiot. Some girl back in flight school gave me that because I never did smile, but in the end I was better than every damn person at the Academy including the instructors. In the end no one wanted to believe that a kid with sickly legs beat them at their own game. Guess who was smiling at graduation." Joker said still piloting the Normandy

Shepard just leaned against the wall smirking "Hmm, interesting story. Anyway I have to go, oh and by the way if you try and do something heroic with your disability, I'm throwing you out the airlock." Shepard said leaving the bridge, he headed past the CIC and down to the crew deck to check up on Kaiden and Liara, he was given the normal salutes by the sentries on duty. He reached down to the crew deck and found Kaiden working on some tech that Shepard had no idea what it was. He was usually asleep during that class in high school.

Kaiden had apparently knew that Shepard was on his way down and turned around to greet the Commander. "Need something Commander?"

"Figure, I'd get to know my crew. What's your story Kaiden?" Shepard asked "Doctor Chakwas mentioned that you were a biotic am I right?"

"Yeah, you are sir. I still have an old L2 implant, while I'm sure you're equipped with an L3." Kaiden said

Shepard reached his hand up to his head with a little pain "Yeah, I was, not that I remember it though." Shepard said "I was never able to understand the differences between the two."

"Well having an L2 implant is decided on the matter of luck, those with L2 implants are unlucky as they can develop brain cancer or become disabled. I was one of the lucky ones since I only get a few migraines here and there." Kaiden said "It really only occurs after massive amounts of stress."

"I remember someone telling me that I had one of the L3 prototypes, so of course something is usually bound to go wrong." Shepard mentioned "Every now and then it feels like my brain is going to pour out of my head. But I just pass it off and hope it goes away, drinking some juice never hurts either. Anyway, what was your opinion on the last mission?"

Kaiden looked over at the med bay "You mean Dr. T'Soni?" he said looking at the Commander "She's an obvious bookworm, in a cute sort of way." Which made Shepard raise an eyebrow

"Stating something Lieutenant?" Shepard said with an eyebrow raise a smirk

Kaiden was starting to feel blushed "Of course not, Commander. I'm just saying if you're into that kind of thing." Kaiden said stumbling over his own words.

"It's alright, Lieutenant I'm only joking. We got about an hour or so before we move out." Shepard said

"On it, sir. Mind if I ask where we're going, I thought we were supposed to be chasing down Saren." Kaiden asked

Shepard just kept silent for a moment before he spoke up "We're going to Binthu in the Voyager Cluster, I made a promise to Kahoku to finish. Trust me Alenko, Saren isn't getting away, I promise you that." Shepard left Kaiden's area and saw Reyes sitting at one of the crew tables with a coffee in his hand by himself staring at the wall. Shepard walked up next to him and took a seat apparently getting startled by the Commander's presence. "Reyes, you alright?"

Reyes was still staring at the wall with coffee in his hand until he finally realized that Shepard was sitting next to him "Yeah, sorry just thinking about the last mission you know, the Thresher Maw." He said

"Yeah scary business huh." Shepard said

"Yeah, you can say that again…" Reyes said "I don't know if you read it in my file but I was stationed on Akuze when the Thresher Maws attacked." Reyes said with his voice dropping. Shepard just sat back in his chair in shock, he swore that he read that no one came out of that alive. "It's not something that I normally think about but after the last mission…" Reyes said stopping in his tracks.

Shepard was still quiet "Esteban, I had no idea. I read the file, scary business out there."

"Reading the file and being there are two different things." Reyes stated "We were sent out to investigate the disappearance of the colonists, we got there and found the colony empty with no sign of the missing colonists. When we set up camp that night, we felt rumbling in the ground and over the next few hours there were screams of terror and pain." Reyes stopped "I thought it would never end but in the end I was the only left on that evac shuttle."

"I see, now I know why you don't have the best track record with your superior officers." Shepard said

Reyes just leaned back in his chair and stretched trying not to think about it "Yeah, well I've overcame it, trust me I'll be on my best when were out there."

/\\\\

"Reyes, get your squad ready for a scouting party." Captain Beranger stated as the Captain was putting together the camp for the night "Remember evac is at 0700, any later you're staying."

"On it, sir." Reyes said walking out of the tent to gather his team to go out searching for survivors of the colony of Akuze. He was walking back to his quarters when the ground below them started trembling, all the Alliance Marines and Sailors were befuddled about what was going when one of the Marines on the far side of the camp was screaming for his life as he saw a 20 foot creature rise up from the ground, when one rose up another three rose up and started terrorizing the Marines and Sailors of the Alliance.

"All of you, pick up a rifl-" The Captain was ready to finish his sentence when a thresher maw picked him up in fell swoop and disappeared.

"Run!" Reyes screamed as he booked with the rest of his men, piece by piece each of his men were dragged down or were just killed from the acids that the thresher maw were spewing out. Hours were dragged by before the thresher maws stopped and burrowed back into the subterranean depths of the ground. Just as the former Captain had said, the evac shuttle had arrived at the designated time.

Reyes had gotten on the shuttle that was meant for a platoon of 50 but Reyes was the only one aboard, one of the crewman looked at him "Where's the rest of your platoon?"

He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up "Dead, we got ambushed by Thresher Maws, I was the only one who made it out." The crewman was silent as he headed back towards the cockpit and told the pilot to leave as there was no one else left alive. Or so they thought.

/\\\\

Tali had spent her time organizing her bunk from before, she set up a family portrait of her, her father, and Admiral Raan who was a friend of the family for a number of years. Times like this made someone homesick but Tali tried not to let it get to her. She hung up a few posters around the room that just brought the room to life with color since most of it was "battleship gray" or "navy blue". _This place needs a little more purple_ she thought as she hung up drapes and paintings, one of the paintings was one of the fleet that had a serene and calm tone to it. She was lost in the painting for hours as by now, only a few weeks out of her pilgrimage, she missed her home. Engineer Greg Adams had poked his head through the door to check up on Tali "Hey, Tali you doing alright?" he asked

"I'm fine, Adams. Thanks for asking." Tali said sounding distraught

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just thinking about home is all." Tali said still lost in the painting of what she called home.

/\\\\

Shepard had made his way down to the subdeck of the ship to find Garrus working on the Mako with a little bit of the crew's help, Wrex was leaning up on the wall watching Garrus work on the Mako, and Ashley was over by the crew lockers cleaning weapons for the next mission. John had walked over to Williams to see her on her terminal checking her email, John didn't mean to eavesdrop but was already there so there was no hurt in hearing what was going on.

"_**Hey, sis, just figure to see how you were doing? Oh and I heard on the holovids that your serving with that Commander Shepard, he's cute. You know you two would make such a cute couple. Anyway have to go sis, mother sends her regards."**_

Shepard had come up behind her mid message which caught Ashley by surprise "Hey, skipper you didn't hear that did you?" Ashley asked blushing

"Afraid I did, Chief." Shepard said smirking "Who was that?"

Ashley's face was as pink as her armor stored in lockup "That was my little sister Sarah, who's going to be pummeled into the ground when I get home." She said rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.

Shepard still finding the situation amusing antagonized it even further "So, a cute couple huh?"

Now she was turning red as the N7 logo on Shepard's hoodie "As I said, she's going to get pummeled into the ground when I get home. But yes that's what she said."

"Hmmm" Shepard said thinking about it

"As I said before, skipper not a chance, you know the rules of fraternization." Ashley stated "You may be cute but I'm not going to the brig because my hormones took control. Anyway I'm sure you didn't come by to eavesdrop on family mail."

Shepard could tell that something was on her mind "What's on your mind, Williams?"

"Permission to speak freely sir?" she asked

"Speak your mind, Chief." Shepard said as he always allowed his crew to speak freely since they needed some down time every now and then. Besides it was good for morale if the CO spoke to the grunts every now and then. She hesitated for a minute before Shepard spoke up again. "Go ahead and speak up Ash, I won't have a problem with it."

She hesitated again "Are you sure it's okay to be working with aliens? I mean Vakarian and Wrex sir, this is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Fleet, is it wise to let them have free reign of the ship?" She asked

Now it was Shepard's turn to hesitate as he gathered his thoughts "I sense something more deeply than just the trust issue, is there something you're not telling me?"

"Well, I'm surprised you haven't found out yet, my superiors usually find out." Ashley said but Shepard just shrugged as he didn't know what she meant. "I'm the granddaughter of General Williams." Shepard still had no idea what she meant "My grandfather, General Williams, was to Commanding General during the Battle of Shanxi, the only colony ever to fall to the turians during the First Contact War. I'm surprised there isn't anything in my files about that."

"Nothing but great technical scores and a list of crap assignments." Shepard said

"There's a reason for those crap assignments, I've worked my ass off, and trying to shrug off the Williams family name, trying to prove it still has meaning. I'm surprised that my rank is the way it is, to be honest this is my first station on the Fleet as all of my assignments were ground colonies. My father never made it past Serviceman Third Class, because he was the son of General Williams. Anyway, everyone gets the wrong vibe when they hear the Williams name, so I'm sorry if I don't trust aliens other than humanity. I refuse to let the family name go down with Arnold and Quisling." _**(In case you guys don't know, Benedict Arnold was a Major General during the American Revolution that had switched sides and betrayed the Continental Army by sending the British secret transmissions of troop strengths and locations, his name is used as a noun to describe a traitor or turncoat. Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian Politician during World War II that collaborated with the Nazi Regime, which eventually seized power after a Nazi-backed coup attempt. After the war had ended, he was put on trial by the Norwegian government and found guilty of embezzlement, murder, and high treason. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress in Oslo. Along with Arnold, Quisling is another term to define someone as a traitor. Figure it was a little fun fact to add.)**_

Shepard just paused and thought about what to say next "I see where you're coming from Williams and I understand your frustration but humanity needs its allies."

"I understand that Commander, but it's just if humanity wants to prove itself than we need to do this on our own. Sooner or later, if they have the chance to save their own skin, they'll do it by stabbing us in the back. It's as if you're hunting in the woods and come across a bear and the only way to live is to sic your dog and run, as much as you love your dog, it's not human." She stated

"Again, I understand your frustration but we need the help we can get and trust me, we can trust Wrex and Vakarian." Shepard said assuring Williams that they can trust the two of them.

"Aye, aye sir. Now if you'll excuse me I have some work to do." She said as she turned back around to finish cleaning her weapons. He found his way towards Garrus who seemed to have some down time from working on the Mako.

"Hey, Garrus how's she looking?" Shepard said pointing toward the Mako

Garrus wiped some sweat off his head "Well, if we took another hit from the acid, then well the repairs would be a lot harder than right now. I'm telling ya Commander, we better not encounter another one of those things again or else we'll be in for some trouble."

"Why'd you end up wanting to leave C-Sec anyway?" Shepard asked changing the topic

"Too much red tape and restrictions, never was able to tell how they managed to follow the rules without breaking them. Now Spectre's on the other hand play loose with the law, or so I hear which can have its benefits."

"I only try to use the abusive power when I have to. Which may surprise some people." Shepard said

"Understandable, Commander but if you'll excuse me we can talk another time, I need to get this heap of metal back in flying shape." Garrus said as the rest of the engineers came back, they seemed to be getting along with the former turian C-Sec agent, which was a surprise since most humans dislike turians since the First Contact War. Shepard made his way over to Wrex who was still watching Garrus and the engineers help with the Mako.

"How's it going Wrex?" Shepard asked the very large krogan "You guys live for centuries, got any stories worth sharing?"

Wrex thought about it for a minute. "There was this one time where the turians almost wiped our entire race, which was fun."

"Yeah, they almost did the same to us." Shepard said clearly not knowing what Wrex was commenting about

"It's not the same." Wrex said clearly agitated

"Of course it is."

"So your race was almost brought to extinction by a genetic mutation that allows one in every thousand babies to be born?" Wrex stated

"Touchy subject huh?"

"Your ignorance doesn't upset me Shepard." Wrex said clearly still having thoughts about the genophage. The genophage is a genetic mutation that allows only one in every thousand babies to be born as the rest die in fertility. It was created as a biological weapon by the Salarians to end the Krogan Rebellions, it is was created by the Salarians but released by the turians, so in the krogan's minds they each share the blame of the almost extinction of the galaxy's toughest warriors. There is no sensible cure to the genophage but krogan scientists have spent centuries trying to find one. Some look upon the release of the genophage as genocide while others look at it as the only viable solution to prevent another galaxy wide war. "Don't you have some work to Shepard?" Wrex asked clearly not wanting to be bothered.

"So long, Wrex." Shepard said leaving and heading over to engineering to speak to Tali but before he was able to, Joker informed him that the ETA to Binthu was 10 minutes and needed to get his team together. He headed up the elevator to the crew deck and over to his quarters to grab his fatigues "Joker tell the crew to assemble in the on the crew deck, I need to mention a few things."

"You got it Commander." Joker said _"All crew, report to the crew deck immediately."_ Joker announced over the comm


	4. Chapter 4

**_Figure I'd add a little spice toward the end of the chapter, let me know what you guys think of the ending and if I should continue it or not. Leave a comment if you like or you can just PM me. Hope you guys enjoy! _**

**_P.S: I used a couple lyrics by the band the Cruxshadows and might use them a little bit in the future. I do not own them yada yada_**

* * *

"_All crew report to the crew deck. Repeat all crew report to the crew deck." _Joker announced over the comm, a rush of 40 to 50 bodies flooded to the crew deck from the announcement. After all were orderly and quiet, Shepard had spoken up.

"I know all of you are expecting us to go after Saren, but trust me he will be dealt with soon enough I promise you. Now for the reason we are not pursuing him right now is because Rear Admiral Kahoku has investigated the deaths of his men, which led us to go to Edolus. He believes that his men were set up by a pro-human splinter group called Cerberus. Apparently, Cerberus was on to him and needed him silenced, his last transmission was leaving me a message from Binthu in the Voyager Cluster, and Cerberus was believed to lure his soldiers into a trap under a thresher maw nest." Shepard said "Joker located three separate Cerberus bases on Binthu, I'm going to divide this into three teams. I will take Wrex and Tali to this facility here." Shepard said pointing at the holographic map that appeared in front of him, this facility looked to be the most guarded as it was projected on top of a steep hill that the Mako could get to. "Garrus, you will take O'Malley and Williams and take this facility here." Shepard said pointing to the facility in the middle of what looked look a canyon "You'll be transported in by the Kodiak Shuttle, you got Hammer over there to pilot as she's one of the best."

Shepard took a last look around the room to see who he wanted on that team "Alenko, you'll take Dr. T'Soni and Reyes and hit this facility here," Shepard stated pointing to the last facility on the map "We'll hit each of the facilities at the same time so they don't have enough time to react to what's going on around them, radio in what you see when you first enter the base. Other than that, I want radio silence." Shepard announced, by now the map had looked like a laser light show "When we're finished, we rendezvous here for pick up. Understood?"

_Yes sir!_ Erupted from the crew deck

"Excellent, grab your gear we move in five." Shepard said as he and the rest of those on the mission headed down to the cargo bay to prep for the mission, Shepard, Wrex and Tali had climbed into the Mako to get prepped for the drop. On the other side of the hanger, Hammer had started up the Kodiak and was followed in by Garrus, O'Malley, and Williams. Shepard had put Garrus in charge because he wanted to see Ashley performed under a turian's command. Alenko, Reyes, and Liara were still putting on their envrio-suits since they were to be deployed on foot. After a few minutes of fumbling around with their enviro-suits all three teams were ready to be deployed, Kaiden, Reyes, and Liara were dropped on the ground first since they had the longer hike.

Garrus, Ash, and O'Malley had fallen into the Kodiak with Hammer behind the helm piloting "Second team, ready to be deployed sir." Hammer said over the comm to Shepard

"Roger, move out toward the designated LZ." Shepard mentioned "Garrus, get in position and wait for my signal, you too Lieutenant."

"You got it, boss." Alenko stated

Garrus came on just after Kaiden "Roger Shepard."

"Alright let's rock 'n roll." Shepard said hopping into the Mako along with Wrex and Tali

/\\\\

Garrus had unstrapped himself and opened the cockpit door and wandered inside to talk to Hammer or Lieutenant Anastasia Volmentov, the young Lieutenant had entered flight school around the same time as one Jeff "Joker" Moreau but graduated a year before him. She was the one that held all the records at the Academy before Joker and his sickly legs upended them. She had grown up back on Earth in Russia actually during the time of their second civil war as Russian extremists had tried to overthrow the president and prime minister in single coup attempt. Backed by the US government, the Russian government was able to quell most of the extremists but a few remained still setting their sights on overthrowing the president. Her father had been one of the Ambassadors to Mars that had been killed in a bombing of the Kremlin, there was no extensive damage to the Russian monument but it still needed repair, Anastasia's father and a few workers had been killed when the bomb had detonated. When she was old enough she had left Earth and trained to become a pilot in the Systems Alliance Navy. Now, she is serving with the great Commander Shepard and the magnificent crew of the Normandy.

"How long until we reach the LZ?" Garrus asked

"No later than a few minutes, hold up a minute." Hammer said as she saw something on one of her radars that started blinking "Oh shit." She said as she put the shuttle into an evasive maneuver. "Garrus, go tell everyone to strap in, we got incoming heat-seeking missiles. It's gonna be a bumpy ride." She said as she heard the cockpit door close and then she keyed up Shepard in the Mako.

"What is it, Hammer?" Shepard asked

She was still bobbing and weaving through the landscape to try and shake the missiles "Sir, Cerberus must've spotted us on our descent. I've got two missiles incoming I'll try and shake 'em but I don't know for how long." She said as calmly as she could

/\\\\\

"Shit," Shepard muttered to himself "Alright try and get clear of them and drop the team off as soon as you can, we need to hit those facilities now."

"Roger sir, deploying the team from the air. I'll radio back in when I get clea-" the comm had shut off and all John got was radio static

"Hammer, report!" John shouted "Report damn it!" he continued shouting but he got was static when suddenly it came back to life "Come in, Hammer!"

He could hear blaster fire over the radio when Garrus picked up the radio "Garrus, here." He said "We got hit on the way down and Cerberus troops are moving in on our position. Hammer fractured both her legs and her right arm, we got her stable and everyone else is fine." Garrus said as he continued to fire at the Cerberus troops closing in on their position.

"Can you hold them off until we get there?" Shepard said as he keyed the Mako in reverse and floored the pedal toward the crash site "Tali, get on the radio and tell Kaiden to hit his base now. We need to knock at least one of them out of commission."

"On it Shepard." The spunky young quarian said as she keyed up the radio to get ahold of Kaiden's team

"Yeah, we can hold them off." He shouted as more blaster fire kept on coming in. "We got plenty of ammo and lots of bad guys. We're good for a bit."

Shepard knew that by now all three of the bases had been on alert and were going to take a hell of a lot more than a small three man team to take it. He had lost the element of surprise and was not too keen about it. "Roger that Garrus, we're on our way to your position. ETA twenty to thirty minutes." Shepard said looking at his watch

"Roger we'll hold them off until then." Garrus said as he keyed the radio off

Shepard had customized the Mako himself and was able to put three speakers on the exterior and a satellite radio equipped with a CD player but at this point in time, CD players were nearly obsolete and were extremely expensive, luckily for Shepard he was collector and installed his in the Mako. Hell, even CD's period were difficult to come by, period. He popped in a CD and threw up the volume to the max it went and blasted out the speakers.

"What the fuck is that sound, Shepard?" Wrex shouted over the sound of the music, it was techno mixed with violin, keyboard, and guitar.

"It's real music, Wrex." Shepard said as the music became even louder when Shepard began humming the words "_…You've asked me for your sacrifice…And I am Winterborne…"_

/\\\\

Garrus, Williams, and O'Malley had set up a defensive position around the crash site and each were expertly trained in their fields but ammo was running short and Cerberus troops still kept pouring by the shipful.

"O'Malley!" Garrus shouted over the Senior Chief "How you doing on ammo?"

O'Malley had fired a few more pop shots before hearing a click in his rifle and loading in his last magazine "That's my last mag!" O'Malley shouted back

Garrus had wondered how long they were going to be able to hold before they got overrun _Damn it, Shepard where the hell are you_ he thought. He trotted over to Hammer who was leaning back against a piece of wreckage writhing in pain. "How you doing?" he asked

"I have no use of my legs and no use of one of my arms, just another day at the office." She grunted trying to get comfortable but to no avail "Give me gun, see if I can do some damage." She grunted trying to get a piece of makeshift the team had set up.

"Alright, if you think you can handle, be my guest." Garrus said as pulled his side arm out and gave to the injured pilot.

"Thanks Garrus." She said as she leaned over to take a few shots at what seemed like the never ending Cerberus horde. Garrus had trotted over to Ash's position to see how she was doing.

"How you doing, Williams?" Garrus said kneeling next to her

She unclipped her magazine and put another one just as fast "Fine, Garrus." Ash said since she still didn't nearly trust Garrus as much as Shepard did and gave him a short answer.

"How, 'bout ammo? How much do you have left?"

"Two more mags," She said taking another out "Give this to O'Malley." She said as he took the magazine and trotted back to his position when he noticed out of the corner of his eye some of the Cerberus grunts had gotten inside the perimeter.

"We got Cerberus troops in the perimeter!" Garrus shouted as he fired his last shot after he heard a click and then used the butt end of the rifle as a club and began wailing away on the grunts inside the perimeter.

/\\\\

"Normandy to Shepard." Shepard said as he keyed up his comm

There was a series of bleeps than heard Joker's voice "What's up boss man?"

"Garrus' shuttle had been hit by Cerberus and are holding them off as we speak, I need to you to rendezvous at these coordinates," Shepard said punching in the coordinates of the crash site "Meet us down there so we can evac them."

"Roger, Shepard. Normandy out." Joker said as he turned off his communicator.

/\\\\

All four of them had run out of ammo and were using hand to hand combat to battle the Cerberus troops in the perimeter when Garrus heard music becoming louder and louder and was able to make out the lyrics "_…And in the fury of this darkest hour…We will be your light…_" as if almost on que, Shepard's Mako came thrashing around the corner blasting at any Cerberus presence in the area. Wrex was almost like a child opening a present on Christmas morning back on Earth as he was firing the main cannon at the Cerberus troops. Tali was firing short bursts of the turret, nothing compared to Wrex's rocket pounding of course. In a matter of a few minutes, the crash site was littered with bodies as the three of them hopped out of the Mako to check for survivors. As they were scanning, Shepard noticed one in a pile that was still breathing, trotting over to him with his pistol drawn.

"Not a chance," Shepard said pinning his leg down to the ground, hard. The Cerberus trooper had a blood-curdling scream of pain as Shepard had just stepped on what was left of his leg "Now, you're gonna tell me which one of the three bases that the Admiral is at." Shepard said pressing harder on the wounded leg, the harder Shepard pressed, the more the screams became louder.

"We… weren't told where he was at." The trooper spurted out

"Sorry not the answer I was looking for." He said as he pressed down even harder almost to the point where Shepard's foot almost crushed what was left of the trooper's leg. Once again the screaming continued until Shepard decided to give him another chance and let his foot off the man's leg

"We were guarding the scientists, they never said anything to us." He said almost panting and turning white as a ghost from the loss of blood in his system "A couple of us overheard the scientists say that they brought in some Admiral from the Alliance, it was at the base in the mountains. Please that's all I know." He said almost begging for his life or what was left of it anyway.

"Thanks, that's all I needed." Shepard said as he pulled out his pistol without hesitation and pulled the trigger ending the man's life with a bullet to the head.

Shepard motioned for the rest of the group over to his position, "It seems that Kahoku is being held at the base in the mountains." Shepard said as the corpsman from the Normandy were loading up what was left of the Kodiak shuttle and brought aboard Hammer since two of the crewman had helped her onto the ship. Using the shuttle was out of the question since it was wrecked beyond belief and would take a few weeks if not months to repair. "We need to storm in on foot, the Mako will be too big for us not to get in there without drawing attention. Tali, get on the horn and see where Alenko is, if were gonna storm this place on foot, we're going to need everyone ready." Shepard had really wondered if with only three teams that he could pull this off without having anything go wrong. He never did like the concept of Murphy's Law but he knew that it was part of how life went on in the galaxy, 'What can go wrong, Will go wrong.'

Tali was able to hail Kaiden, apparently Cerberus was experimenting with a long thought to be extinct race called the rachni. The Rachni were an insect-like species that was guided by a hive mind, the Citadel races had first encountered the Rachni by traveling through a Mass Relay that led to a previously unknown system. The Rachni had subsequently captured the research team that went through the relay and studied their technology eventually building their own ships to travel the galaxy. Negotiations with the Rachni were futile as the hive mind Queen was deep beneath the Rachni's homeworld of Suen. With the Queen being deep beneath ground, the communication was not far enough, landing on the surface was futile as well since it was a harsh weather conditions unsuitable for the council races.

The only plan that the Council races had was to exterminate the Rachni and purge them from the galaxy as they thought the Rachni were irredeemably hostile. This plan backfired as the Rachni proved a formidable foe than the Council races had anticipated, world by world fell to the Rachni until the Salarians had found the planet of Tuchanka home to the Krogan. From the Salarian's observation, the Krogan were the only species found in the galaxy strong enough to defeat the Rachni, with the Krogan given space travel and advanced weaponry, they had pushed back the Rachni to Suen and exterminated them even going underground to kill the Queen. The galaxy was at peace with everyone thinking the Rachni were exterminated forever.

"Lieutenant say again, did you say Rachni?" Tali responded

The chatter was rough but Tali was able to clean it up "Roger, we found what looks like Cerberus experimenting on Rachni. Say again we found Rachni."

The entire thought of the Rachni in the galaxy being in the galaxy made Tali shutter, she hated spiders with a passion "Keelah…" she muttered "Shepard you have to hear this." She said transferring Kaiden over to his comm channel.

"Kaiden, am I hearing you right? Did you say Cerberus was experimenting on Rachni?" Shepard asked

"Yes, sir they were." Kaiden said

"Jesus…" Shepard had muttered "Kaiden get your team and rendezvous at my position on the double. Shepard out." He said cutting off the channel

"This is going to be bad." Tali said looking at Shepard which had the group in terror as everyone knew what that could mean if the Rachni were on the loose again.

/\\\\

Back at Hammer's initial crash site, Shepard's three teams were huddled around discussing about what had transpired earlier. Between the Cerberus experimenting Rachni, finding Admiral Kahoku, and tracking down Saren, the crew of the Normandy certainly had a tough task ahead of them.

"Rachni, are fucking serious?" O'Malley said sounding both terrified and pissed "Jesus, I thought the Krogan wiped them out."

"Apparently not." Shepard interjected "We came here for Admiral Kahoku and that's who we came for. Alenko, did you place explosives around the place?"

"Yes, sir." Kaiden responded "They are about to go off…" Kaiden continued looking at his watch for the time "right about now." He said as they felt the shockwave from the explosion.

There was no way that anything could escape that facility if Cerberus was experimenting on Rachni, Shepard would report it to the council and then go from there, right now they needed a strategy for getting inside the base.

"We'll go in from here, since that's the only way in." Shepard said "O'Malley, Garrus and I will take point and secure what looks to be the main room. Tali, Liara, and Williams, you three take out the barracks here." Shepard continued, he wanted Ashley exposed to as much alien as possible since she had a history in her family of being xenophobic and wanted her to overcome it if they were going to be a permanent part of the crew. "Wrex, Kaiden, and Reyes, you three will form a perimeter around the base in case Cerberus calls in reinforcements. Let's move out."

/\\\\

The two three-man teams had entered through the front entrance quietly and set off any alarms. It didn't make that much of a difference since they were already on high-alert from before. Shepard motioned for Ashley and her team to head toward the barracks to neutralize the enemy quickly and quietly. After they had split up, Shepard and his team had encountered a roving patrol. He motioned for Garrus and O'Malley to set up positions on the far end of the room, in less than an instant the three guards were on the ground dead.

They left the bodies where they were and opened the door to main room, he could see the Admiral in a force field cell. Shepard slid down the wall under the cover of darkness while O'Malley and Garrus had taken care of the guards that were closest to the door, they hid the bodies from the roving patrols.

Shepard saw that there were only four more guards left in the main room of the compound which was perfect, he motioned for Garrus and O'Malley to get in position to take out the rest of the guards. Shepard took the two on his side and when he motioned for Garrus and O'Malley to kill, they took 'em down quick and quiet. Shepard was able to take one down with ease but the second proved a little difficult, he slapped Shepard's pistol of his hand and knocked him over on his ass. Shepard reacted by getting up and giving him the 'ole one-two, one to the chest and second to the head that knocked the Cerberus guard on his ass. Shepard reached for his pistol and delivered one clean shot to the head that blew the target's head clean off and splattered brains all over the wall.

"He's not gonna be feeling that in the morning." Garrus said jokingly while Shepard unlocked the cell to let out Admiral Kahoku

"You certainly made a mess of the place, John." Kahoku said looking at first the blood and brain stain on the wall then looking over to the shadowed corners and seeing them littered with bodies.

John just looked over and shrugged "Could be worse." Kahoku chuckled at the comment

"So I heard some of the guards talking about a crash site not far from here where they shot down some Alliance shuttle." Kahoku stated "Everyone on that shuttle fine?"

"Yeah, Garrus and O'Malley took a few cuts and bruises." Shepard said motioning to the two soldiers who were cleaning up the mess "The pilot got the worst of it, she fractured both of her legs and an arm, and she still put up a fight against these Cerberus dogs. She'll be fine, she just won't be piloting anytime soon." He just remembered that he needed to check on how the women faired against Cerberus. "Excuse me, Admiral."

"Of course." Kahoku said backing away and leaving John to his own devices. Shepard went back through the main room and over to where Tali, Liara and Ashley had taken to the barracks. He keyed open the door and found most of the Cerberus troops tied up and still in their skivvies no less. A few tried to make it to the armory across the hall but didn't get as far as the door as he saw some of them gunned down while others were still writhing in pain from their injuries. He leaned up against the wall and coughed to let them know that he was there smirking along the way.

"Nice of you to join us." Ashley said walking up to the Commander, Tali and Liara were still roving around to make sure none of the other prisoners were making a break for it. "We got the situation covered as you see." She said, just then one of the troopers broke free from his cuffs and pushed Tali into the wall while struggling to get a hold of her weapon. He managed to throw aside Ashley as she tried to jump on his back to bring him to the ground while still struggling with Tali's weapon. She threw it away and started laying in a few punches which resulted in the trooper retaliating by him throwing in a few punches. Shepard took his time to get over there and kicked him straight in the gut which caused him to keel over in pain. Liara used her stasis to hold him in position, while Shepard was helping up Tali and Ashley. Ashley had a bruise across her back from being thrown against the wall and Tali looked fine but he could be mistaken. After the two were taken care of, he strode over to the soldier who was held tight in the stasis field

"You can go ahead and release him Liara." Shepard said as he dropped to the floor still coughing from getting the wind knocked out of him, Shepard knelt down so they were eye to eye "It's not so nice when you hit a lady." Shepard said calmly as he could.

"Go to Hell asshole." The trooper replied

"That's not very nice either." Shepard said standing back up and punching him back in the same place he had kicked "Now you're going to say you're sorry to these nice young ladies."

The trooper coughed up some blood and didn't say a word which caused Shepard to sucker punch him again in the gut "I didn't hear you." Shepard said into his ear

"I'm sorry." The trooper said as quietly as he could

"Apology not accepted." Ashley said as she strode over and kicked him right where the sun doesn't shine causing him to keel over in pain and cause Shepard to cringe as well. "Want to take a shot Tali?" she asked

Tali just looked the soldier angrily from behind her mask and realized that she didn't need her hand to hurt along with the rest of her body after she punched him so she decided not to. "Nahh, I'm good Ash. He isn't worth it, thanks for the offer though."

"No problem." She said as she kicked him one more time in the face for good measure causing his face to bleed. "As I said, sir, were all good here."

"Umhmm." Shepard replied mockingly "Pack it up, we've got the Admiral secure and were going to be blowing this place sky high."

"Roger sir." Ashley said "What about the prisoners?"

Shepard thought about it for a moment "Your choice, Williams. Either we take 'em for prisoners or we leave them here with the bomb." Shepard walked out nodding at Tali to ensure she was okay from the beating she took. Ashley looked around the room at the prisoners and wondered if they really deserved being blown up with the bomb. She knew the reputation Cerberus had, she was no alien lover either but Cerberus took it to the next level. There was no excuse and God would probably never forgive her for what she has done but sacrifices needed to be made for the greater good. Taking a few as prisoners would be helpful, the rest well let's just say she hoped they made their piece with God.

"We'll take a few for questioning for the Alliance and see how they want to handle it. The rest can be tied up along with the explosives." She said much to the outcry of the prisoners

/\\\\

Shepard had gotten back to the main room where Garrus and O'Malley were just finishing up piling up the bodies. He walked up to the Admiral "Sorry about that sir."

"No problem at all, John." Kahoku said "Figure I needed some exercise." As he apparently helped with the cleanup "Everything go alright in there?"

"Just a misunderstanding by one of the prisoners." Shepard said looking at his hand and saw his knuckles were bleeding slightly from beating the snot out of the prisoner. Ashley, Liara, and Tali had come back with a few of the prisoners.

"Figure we can take a few for questioning but leave the rest here with the bomb." Ashley said much to her moral discomfort

"You can't always make the easy decisions soldier." Kahoku said to Williams

Garrus and O'Malley had finished setting up the bomb and had it armed and primed "Bomb's primed boss, just say the word and this place becomes a hole in the ground." Garrus said giving Shepard the detonator

"Roger radio Joker and tell him we're ready for pickup," Shepard said turning away from Garrus "Kaiden how are we looking up there?" Shepard asked Kaiden over the comm

"Everything's good up here. Few stragglers here and there but nothing we couldn't handle." Kaiden stated "We're ready to pull out whenever you are sir."

Shepard looked around at everyone who was still in the room, Garrus and O'Malley were chatting, Ashley and Liara were watching over the prisoners, Tali was doing whatever she does with her omni-tool, possibly scanning herself for injuries, Kahoku was standing next to him observing just as Shepard was doing, "Great group of people you got here, John." Kahoku said

Shepard looked around again "Yeah, yeah that they are."

"Don't let 'em go to waste." The Admiral said again "Anyway enough of the chit-chat let's get off this rock and blow this place skyhigh.

"Yes sir." Shepard said with a smirk "Alright ladies and gents, we're Oscar Mike. Pack it up and move out." Shepard announced, they all left the base and headed topside where Joker was waiting with the Normandy landed on the Cliffside on the far side of the base. He loaded up the Admiral first then the prisoners and went up to the bridge and told Joker to take off. As it was taking off, Shepard looked out the window and fiddled with the detonator in his hand until he finally pressed the button causing a mushroom cloud explosion seen from space. _Jesus Christ, what the hell did you put in that Garrus._ Shepard thought as a shit ton of explosive's were detonated. Shepard returned back to the crew deck and found the Admiral talking with some of the crewman. After he was done John called the Admiral over to talk.

"So Admiral, where do you want to be dropped off? Citadel?" Shepard asked

Kahoku thought about what he was going to say next, "I'd actually like to stay on board the Normandy, with your permission of course."

"No permission needed." Shepard said smirking "But why, what about your position in the Alliance, I'm sure they need you for something."

"They're just going to stick me for some backwater assignment on the Citadel. You know how much I hate politics and besides I want to get back out to the action."

Shepard thought about it "Alright, old friend. But you have to make sure Hackett knows about this."

"Of course, John. I'll talk to him as soon as I can." Kahoku said

"Good to have on board, sir." Shepard said

"Glad to be here, Commander." Kahoku said saluting than leaving to talk back with the other crewmen. Shepard figured he should go check up on Tali since she took kind of a beating in that last fight.

/\\\\

Tali was laying in her bunk trying not to move mainly because the bruises she had sustained hurt too much. _Keelah, my whole body hurts right now. I really need to work on my fighting technique._ She wasn't quite used to fighting yet, sure a few firings of the pistol but nothing compared to what Shepard had. She was thinking about home and how much she missed it right now when she heard a knock on her bunk door, she hopped off her bunk, which caused more pain than she was in _Bosh'tet_ she thought as the pain from the jump hurt. She opened the door and saw that it was John standing in front of her.

She just stared at him dumbfounded and had no idea what to say, "Come on in." she said motioning for the dashing Commander to enter her quarters "What's up?"

Shepard took a seat on her bunk "Figure I'd come on in and check on you. Seeing how you were feeling. You took quite a beating in that last fight, no offense."

"None taken, and you're right I'm in so much pain it's unbelievable. I think I need to work on my technique huh?" She asked smirking behind her mask

Shepard smirked as well "Yeah, I think you do too. If at any time you want to learn hand to hand combat just let me or Williams know and we'll set you up on the whole shebang."

"Sounds like a plan." She said laying back down on her bunk all the meanwhile grunting in pain

"Are you sure you're alright, maybe you should go see Doctor Chackwas." Shepard suggested

"I'm fine I swear, just a little rest ought to do the trick." Tali said "And I was actually wondering if you can teach me some of that training of yours." She replied

Shepard wasn't sure if she was making a pass at him or just actually wanting to learn "Yeah sure no problem, let's step out in the hallway where we have more room." They both left the room and headed for the main cargo bay where there was plenty of space for training, Shepard actually brought over Chief Williams as well to help demonstrate. Over the course of the next few hours, Tali was becoming more and more skilled in hand to hand combat, she was a fast learner after all. She felt wiped and needed some rest if she was going to be available the next day.

"Good work out there today Tali." Ashley said walking back over to her post near the gear lockers

"Thanks Ash." Tali responded

"Bet you're wiped and probably in more pain than you can imagine." Shepard said

"Well, it went away after I started moving again, as your kind says 'Pain is weakness leaving the body'." She said which made Shepard start chuckling

"You know that expression is bad for you right?" Shepard said half serious half joking "The more pressure you put on your body, the more you damage it. Now I know quarian physiology is different from the humans but it's similar. Take my advice, go see Dr. Chakwas and take some time to rest before going back into the field. I want you primed and functional out there, not some half-dead zombie who's going to collapse." Shepard concluded

"Alright, I'll do it for you then." Tali said blushing a bit

Shepard once again smirking "Thanks Tali."

Joker interrupted over the intercom "Commander, we got a situation up here, I need you up here on the double."

"Roger Joker, be right there." Shepard replied "Remember go see Chakwas and then get some rest." He said leaving the room and heading up for the bridge to see Joker.

Reaching the bridge, Joker was staring dumbfounded at his chair "I really have no idea what to make of it sir." He said bringing the object into view for Shepard to take a look at it. Shepard recognized the image of the ship instantly, he put it together in less than an instant.

"Joker, give me the radio." Shepard said as Joker handed him the outgoing radio "Unknown vessel, this is the SSV Normandy of the Systems Alliance, identify yourself." All he heard was radio silence with no response "Repeat this the SSV Normandy, identify yourself or prepared to be boarded." Shepard said once again with nothing but static.

"O'Malley and Reyes, get suited up and loaded into the shuttle on the double." Shepard announced and looked back over at Joker

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not telling me something?" Joker said

"Trust me on this one. I've seen this ship before." Shepard said leaving the bridge to get suited up.

/\\\\

"Trooper, what have we got?" The man that seemed to be in charge asked

"We've got an unknown ship hailing us." The man at the computer said

Suddenly there was a voice that made both of the men snap to attention when they heard it "Gentlemen, what have we got?"

"I don't know sir, a ship that calls itself the SSV Normandy." The officer said "I have no idea what happened, we came out of hyperspace and now we're here. No official records in the Archives about this place at all."

The one in charge seemed to be puzzled by the recent turn of events "I'll talk to Commander Tano about this."

The one called Commander Tano had appeared on the bridge "You rang, Admiral." The woman's voice said

"Yes, sir we have a ship that has identified itself as the SSV Normandy of the Systems Alliance Navy and we are in an unknown system. No records of where we are in the archives sir."

"This is most peculiar, I sense a disturbance in the force." She said "Ready your boarding teams Admiral in case they try to board."

/\\\\

"On three." Shepard said to O'Malley and Reyes "One…two…three." Shepard unlocked the airlock and sprinted in the ship with weapons at the ready only to be met by more troopers and something that was unbelievable to Shepard's eye.

"You've got to be shitting me." O'Malley muttered

"No, Chief I don't know if our eyes are playing tricks on us or we just stumbled onto a Jedi Cruiser from Star Wars commanded by Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano." Shepard said as he just stared at the troopers and the jedi dumbfounded.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Reyes asked as they all looked at them dumbfounded

* * *

_**So, I had to reboot and reset my system hard drive on my cpu and I forgot to back up my files so lost the next chapter for this (which I was almost done with and was planning to upload it within the next few days) so it will be a little longer than expected. Again I'm sorry this was all unexpected lol**_


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